Suicidally Beautiful
by bitchdoilooklikeawizard
Summary: First thing's first. The title sounds morbid, I know. However the story isn't. The title is actually a quote from a comedy. And this is kind of a little something I thought up one day. Who knows if it's going anywhere. CopDoc... Emotional/Dramatic. I don't want to give too much away.
1. I'm Not Very Bright, I Guess, Just Dumb

The forest was peaceful at this time of night; everything resting in its snug home, not even bothering to disturb others. The soft crunching of leaves and twigs underneath the blonde's feet and the slight breeze were the only prominent noises that could be heard. The crisp and slightly chilly air surrounded her, but never did it once make her feel uncomfortable. She'd left a long note at her friend's door, in case she went looking for her and was wondering where she went. She explained everything and apologized for her sudden absence; she just needed to get away from all the stress and manipulative people in her life.

A few yards ahead, she saw headlights speeding down the nearby road and figured if the forest was this still, she'd have a better chance if she walked into the road so she made her way to where she'd just seen the headlights and sat down in the middle of the road, taking deep breaths as she closed her eyes. She waited for about fifteen minutes, but still not one car had come her way. She sighed, opened her eyes, and stood up. She began walking up the road with her arms out, placing one foot right in front of the other with each step as though the double yellow lines were a tight rope. Suddenly, after about two minutes of doing this, she heard a car engine in the distance and she could tell it was coming her way at a high speed. She changed her position from the middle of the road to the side on which she expected the car to be traveling. She closed her eyes and braced herself, waiting for the impact. Waiting for nothingness.

The driver slammed her foot on the brake pedal, tires screeching and burning against the rough pavement. The car skidded closer and closer to the anticipant. The front end of the car stopped only about six inches from the blonde. The driver quickly unbuckled herself, pushed open her car door and ran over to the blonde.

"Are you okay?" the driver asked. She peered at the front of her car, concluding that she hadn't actually hit the woman, fortunately.

"Yeah," the blonde sighed. "Sorry. Guess I wasn't looking where I was going. I'll be more careful next time."

"I would hope so!" the driver exclaimed nervously, still in shock. "Are you sure I didn't hurt you?"

"Oh, I'm sure," the blonde replied flatly. "I'm fine. Really. Just go on and continue on your merry way."

The driver continued to stare at her and in hopes of getting her to leave, the blonde forced a smile.

"Okay... If you say so..." the driver stated, still unsure about the blonde's condition. "M-Maybe you should see a doctor. You know, just in case."

"You see this?" the blonde asked as she bent the knee of her right leg, then her left. "And this—"

She wiggled her arms and fingers halfheartedly.

"I can move. I'm not paralyzed. I'm fine. Really."

"Okay..." the driver responded. "Then I guess... Then I guess I'll just get going..."

The blonde nodded gratefully as the driver turned away from her and went back to her car. The blonde watched the driver buckle herself in and take the car out of park. The driver stared at the blonde expectantly, waiting for her to get out of the road. The blonde respectfully stepped back and out of the woman's way and waved as the woman drove away. She let a huge sigh as soon as the car was out of sight. Only a few minutes later, she saw another set of headlights. She prepared herself again by reclaiming her previous position in the road, closing her eyes and bracing herself once again.

"This is it," she told herself. She took a deep breath and waited for the impact. Waited for nothingness. She opened an eye and checked out the car. She found that instead of continuing to travel at the same speed, the car had begun to stop and the driver pulled over on the side of the road and got out of the car. The blonde sat down on the two yellow lines and cradled her head in her right hand as she traced circles with her index finger of her left hand on the pavement. Tonight was not her night.

"Hey... Guess you weren't looking where you were going... Again," the driver from before remarked sarcastically. "C'mere."

The blonde reluctantly got up and walked over to the driver. Before the blonde could even react, the stranger reached for her and pulled her in for a tight hug that restrained the blonde's arms so that they were at her sides.

"Listen... I don't know exactly what you're going through—" she whispered into the blonde's ear. The blonde rolled her eyes.

"—but it's not worth this."

"Wow..." the blonde murmured. "You're right. You really don't know what I'm going through because if you did, you'd think it was worth it too."

She suddenly noticed a car approaching quickly.

"Excuse me," she said to the stranger as she ripped herself away from the hug. She took a step toward the front of the moving car, but the stranger was quick enough to react and yanked her by her arm out of harm's way. The blonde was caught off-guard by the stranger's strength and couldn't react quick enough to keep her own head from colliding with the pavement and then it was as if lighting had struck right before her eyes.

"Oh, shit..." the stranger murmured. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Oh, just dandy. I just, y'know, felt like having a trust fall with Mother Earth!" the blonde snapped. "Yup, she trusts me."

The stranger stifled a laugh and replied, "I think you've got it backwards... It'd be you trusting her because she caught you, not her trusting you because you fell over backwards."

"Okay, let's get this straight," the blonde replied sharply, struggling to sit up. Her head was pounding and she felt dizzy. "I did not fall. You pushed me."

"Pushed you?"

"Pulled me. Whatever. You did this to me."

"I was trying to save your life—"

"Well, ya still didn't do me any good. Wanna know why? Because I'm. Still. Here."

"Look, you need to calm down. Your trust fall was a little rough—"

"Trust fall—" the blonde spat. "I'm fine."

She stood up and the stranger followed suit. The blonde took this moment to try and assess the stranger, but instead ended up vomiting on her feet. The driver closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying not to focus on the warm, moist sensation seeping through her shoes to her socks and her pants.

"Look, we need to get you out of here... You're not looking so well..."

"Gee, thanks. First you force me into a trust fall with Mr. Gravity down there and now you're telling me I'm ugly?" the blonde bitterly joked.

"No, I'm serious. You—"

The blonde wavered on her feet and had a frightened look in her eyes.

"I feel... so tired..." she murmured, her countenance suddenly drooping with fatigue.

"Possibly showing signs of concussion..." the woman murmured.

"I'm sorry, what!?"

"Nothing! Nothing. Just... get into my car and I'll see that you get help."

"I'm not going into some stranger's car," the blonde refused.

"You will if you don't want to collapse out here in a puddle of your own vomitus," the woman insisted firmly. The blonde considered her options and sighed, allowing the woman to support her and bring her to her car. She helped the blonde into the passenger seat. She walked in front of the car to the driver's side and much to the blonde's surprise, removed her shoes, and peeled off her socks and her pants.

"Great. I knew you were a weirdo..." the blonde muttered sleepily.

"Nah, I just don't enjoy people's stomach contents rubbing against my skin," the woman replied. She settled into the driver's seat after closing the door and started the car.

Despite her suspicion of the blonde having a concussion, she allowed her to sleep figuring it'd be more peacefully that way. She figured the concussion couldn't have been too serious and planned on waking her up every once in a while just to check on her anyway. She noted that the blonde's respirations were almost a snore, but not quite and that relaxed her, knowing it'd most likely be obvious if she stopped breathing. She hoped the blonde wouldn't stop breathing though; she didn't have a resuscitation mask on her and didn't really feel like doing mouth-to-mouth on the woman who'd vomited not too long ago.


	2. I Always Get the Fuzzy End of the Lolly

"Shit!" the blonde blurted as she woke with a start. She felt disoriented as she looked up at a ceiling rather than the roof of her truck. She also noticed the absence of a crook in her neck that she usually got from sleeping in her truck.

"Hi, sorry. Just making sure you're still alive," the stranger from last night told her. "You are."

The blonde grunted in reply.

"Okay, well, I see you're not much for talking... Either that or maybe you're just not a morning person? Anyway, I'm Lauren," the woman introduced herself as she extended out a hand.

"Tamsin," the blonde replied, crossing her arms rather than shaking the outstretched hand. Lauren nodded in acknowledgement and withdrew her hand.

"Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that you have a concussion and the bad news is that it isn't serious."

Tamsin squinted at the woman suspiciously.

"Are you... You're kidding, right?"

"Nope," Lauren told her sincerely.

"You're just... pulling my leg, right?"

"No, why?"

"Just... never mind," Tamsin sighed frustratedly. Lauren looked puzzled, but didn't question her further. "Are you sure you're not the one with a concussion?"

"Yeah... Anyway, you have to rest," Lauren told her matter-of-factly. "Concussion, remember?"

"I don't have to do anything. _Adult_, remember?"

"Tamsin," Lauren tried the name out and feeling awkward saying it. "Rest."

"No, Tamsin go," Tamsin insisted as she struggled to sit up.

"Don't make me put you out," Lauren threatened as she turned around to retrieve something out of a drawer.

"_'Put me out?'_ You gonna bop me one? I'd like to see you do that," Tamsin scoffed.

"No, silly," Lauren replied, turning back around. "Violence is never the answer."

It was then when Tamsin witnessed Lauren uncap a mean-looking syringe and begin flicking it with an intense level of concentration.

"Shit, you _are_ one of the crazies..." Tamsin murmured. In hopes of distracting her, Tamsin asked, "Why do people flick those shot thingies?"

"What, the syringes?" Lauren asked, pushing at the end of the syringe and watching a few droplets come out. "To get rid of air bubbles. You don't want those going through your veins."

"You know, rest sounds real nice right about now," Tamsin remarked lightly, settling back down when she realized Lauren was still planning to inject her with it.

"Good," Lauren replied. She set the syringe down. "Hungry?"

Tamsin stared at her again, this time not wanting to admit her own hunger.

"Hm, okay. How about some water?" Lauren suggested. More staring. More silence. "I'll just... go get some water and you can accept it if you want to."

After she left, Tamsin looked around and inspected her surroundings. The woman, Lauren, seemed to be well-off. The room was in mint condition and she could not find a single thing out of place. She noticed a window and decided she could make her escape from there. She checked the doorway to check for Lauren and didn't see her so she ran over to the window and opened it. Much to her disappointment, she was on an upper level, something she hadn't considered. She turned around and leaned against the windowsill, feeling a slight breeze on her back from the open window and trying to think of a new escape route. She remembered the needle and she picked it up and held it as she would a dagger and snuck over to the wall, waiting right next to the door for Lauren. Just as she'd anticipated, Lauren came right through the door.

"Tamsin, I got you water— Tamsin?" Lauren looked toward the open window and feared the worst. She dropped the glass she was carrying and Tamsin silently watched it shatter and create a water stain on the carpet. Lauren then hurried over to the window and bent over it, looking for a collapsed Tamsin on the ground below. Tamsin took this moment to sneak up behind Lauren and grab her, holding her tightly around the neck with one hand and holding the needle to her neck with the other. Lauren struggled, but the blonde had a stony, unyielding grip.

"Where am I, Lauren? If that really is your name. And how do I get back to the forest? I don't want to be here, not with you, a stranger."

"Let me go," Lauren stated calmly, not even really showing any sign of fear.

"Listen, I could put you out in a second," Tamsin threatened, setting the needle into Lauren's neck. "I suggest you give me what I want."

"You want a helicopter too? They always want helicopters... Course they never get them... I'm sorry, what'd you ask for?"

Tamsin cried out in frustration, wondering why Lauren wasn't afraid of her.

"Do you not realize I have a needle ready to knock you out? I have the upper hand and you're making jokes."

"Do you not realize I'm no idiot and only _I_ know what's in the needle? _I_ have the upper hand so yeah, I _can_ make jokes. The contents of the syringe you're so kindly jabbing into my neck are simply the contents of a _rehydrating intravenous drip_. And it's not even a large enough dose to cause any harm. The most it'd do is hydrate you, which is why I went to get you water."

"IV fluid. IV fluid? That's it?"

Lauren nodded and answered, "Yes, that is it. Nothing else. Did you really think I was going to put you out after you've sustained a serious head injury? That'd be pretty negligent of me..."

"What, the concussion?" Tamsin asked, releasing Lauren from her grip and taking the needle out. "Look at me. I'm fine. Do I appear to have any symptoms anymore?"

"Well no..."

"Right. Wanna know why? Because I'm— a... fast healer," Tamsin tried to cover up almost revealing herself as not human and hoped the woman wouldn't notice.

"Mm-hm..." Lauren remarked, not buying it.

"No, really, I am."

"Tell you what. If you can hold a coherent conversation with me and pass a few tests after that, I guess I'll have to release you."

"Deal," Tamsin replied, seeing no other option. "My first question is: are you a doctor?"

"Yes," Lauren answered with a proud smile.

"Okay, well, did you do any sort of tests on me while I was sleeping? Like taking blood, saliva, or attempting to take a hair sample?"

"No, why would there be need to?" Lauren asked, puzzled.

"I don't know, just asking."

"So, Tamsin, tell me about yourself."

This was the question Tamsin had been dreading.

"Well, what is there to tell?"

"I don't know. Anything you think is pertinent."

"You watch TV, Doc?"

Lauren kind of disliked being called 'Doc,' but for whatever reason it didn't bother her when Tamsin said it.

"Yeah."

"You ever watch those shows where people get hit by cars and then they die, but then they're shocked back to life in the back of the ambulance as they're delivered to the hospital?"

"Sure."

"I was going to be one of those people. I wasn't trying to be killed, only critically injured. Then I could just come back. No harm, no foul."

"Why?"

"Because sometimes life is tough. You feel... trapped. Caged in. Like some sort of _prisoner_. And you can't really do much about it because life is so much bigger than you and you're just some tiny, weak human dwelling under its reign."

"Oddly enough, I understand," Lauren answered, thinking about her current situation. "And no matter what you do—"

"Life's got the upper hand," Tamsin finished for her.

"Yeah."

"Lauren, I work for some people as I'm sure you do too. We definitely do not have the same job— or even work for the same kind of people— but sometimes it's just taxing. Because Lauren, I don't know if you know this, but sometimes employers can be real assholes. I like to sever my bond with my employers sometimes. That's what the whole getting hit by a car thing does for me."

"Ah, so it gives you time off from work. I get it," Lauren nodded in understanding.

"Sure," Tamsin replied. Lauren didn't really get it, but that was okay.

"Or you could, I don't know, just take time off..." Lauren suggested.

"Where's the fun in that?" Tamsin smirked.

"Oh, so you're one of those adrenaline junkies?"

"You could say that," Tamsin responded.

"The thing you said about employers..." Lauren murmured. "Personally, mine keep me at work for the majority of the day..."

"What do you do?"

"I work in a lab. They keep me there for hours on end."

"That sucks..."

"Yeah. And they make the rules, but they make up the rules as they go."

"I hate those kinds of people."

"What about yours?"

"Oh, uh... They kind of just... Expect me to do favors for them and they'll pay me only after the favors are done successfully. And they're hot on my case if I don't do it as soon as possible."

"That sounds stressful."

"Yeah. It is."

"And it sounds like it's kind of hard to bear."

"Yeah. It is."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Whatever."

"Okay, well, can I just run a few tests on you? As soon as you pass, which I'm sure you will based on this conversation, I can let you go," Lauren told her.

"Sure."

"But no DNA tests, right?" Lauren checked.

"Preferably not."

"Mysterious one, aren't you. Okay. Let's go get started."


	3. How Can I Ever Repay You?

"Well, you've passed your tests... All of them. I guess you may go now," Lauren announced, somewhat dejected. As brash as the blonde had seemed, she'd served as company in Lauren's lonely apartment.

"Great!" Tamsin exclaimed, jumping up from the couch and rushing over to the door.

Just as she opened the door to leave, Lauren called out, "Tamsin!"

Tamsin cringed, not wanting to be held up any longer, but turned around with a false pleasant expression.

"Yeah?"

"Stay for breakfast. _Please_," Lauren requested. Tamsin contemplated her other options, but couldn't ignore the hunger burning a hole in her stomach.

"Okay," she replied softly, coming back to the couch and sitting down.

"Um, I'll be right back... I have to clean up some broken glass," Lauren told her. "Stay here or wander around. It doesn't bother me."

"I'll stay here, thanks," Tamsin replied. As soon as Lauren was out of sight, she began to wander around within the vicinity of the couch. As she looked at the portion of the room behind the couch, she noticed that half was a mix of a kitchen and what appeared to be a lab. She checked again for Lauren's return before going into the lab area. She saw a multitude of beakers and test tubes and a variety of colored liquids. She saw Petri dishes filled with liquids and a few microscopes. She picked up a beaker and swirled its contents before setting it back down. She then hunched over a microscope and saw red blood cells reacting with something, but she didn't know what anything meant.

"Ah! Don't touch that!" Lauren exclaimed as she witnessed Tamsin reaching for a test tube. Tamsin stepped back and raised her hands in the air as if in surrender.

"Sorry," she said. "I was just curious."

Tamsin lowered her hands and Lauren went over to her and threw the shards of glass in a bucket labelled 'Sharps' and straightened out the beaker Tamsin had touched.

"You're lucky that beaker was only a reagent for copper."

"You knew I touched that?"

"Well, yeah. Its lip wasn't facing ninety degrees to the short edge of the counter."

This was when Tamsin realized every beaker and test tube were positioned exactly the same, each one's measuring increments and labels perfectly visible.

"That and you left some pretty obvious finger prints," Lauren sighed as she noticed the prints. She picked up the beaker and wiped the prints off before repositioning it exactly as it was before.

"Sorry. I'll wear gloves next time," Tamsin remarked facetiously.

"You should," Lauren responded, unaware of the sarcasm. Tamsin rolled her eyes. "What did you say you did again? For a job?"

"Uh, I didn't say anything. Cop. I mean, detective."

"You sure? You sound a little unsure."

"Nope, I'm a detective. I'm totally sure."

"Well, wouldn't a detective know to wear gloves?" Lauren asked, sincerely curious.

"I'm not on duty," Tamsin responded, sharper than she'd meant to.

"I was doing something," Lauren whispered to herself. "What was it..."

"Breakfast, I believe," Tamsin reminded her. Lauren's eyes lit up.

"Oh right. Breakfast."

Lauren rushed over to her fridge and began taking things out. An amused Tamsin watched her begin mixing and stirring things as if the whole thing was an experiment. Lauren would stare intently at the measuring cup, making sure each measurement was on point. Tamsin admired this skill, mostly because she herself couldn't do it.

"So, Tamsin, what part of town do you live in?" Lauren asked as she dumped something into a bowl.

"Oh, um..." Tamsin trailed off, unsure of how to answer. She never really lived in one specific area, only wherever she could park her truck for the night.

"Did I just ask a bad question? I'm sorry," Lauren apologized.

"No, no... It's fine."

An awkward pause.

"I just... I live in my truck," Tamsin said quietly, forcing out the truth.

"Oh? Wow, I... I really know how to ask the wrong questions..." Lauren murmured scoldingly more to herself than Tamsin.

"No, really. It's okay," Tamsin assured her. "What are you making?"

"Um, muffins," Lauren replied, concentrating on pouring the exact same amount in each mold.

"Plain or chocolate chip or...?" Tamsin trailed off.

"Blueberry. Chocolate chip could cause a spike in your sugar levels, which isn't too good for you in the morning," Lauren answered. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah," Tamsin answered. She wasn't the biggest fan of blueberry muffins, but it was a bit late and a bit rude to object. She figured she could at least choke one down and slip out.

"Good," Lauren said as she slid the muffin tray into the oven. "We'll let those bake for... Twenty minutes."

"That's it? Only twenty minutes?" Tamsin asked.

"Yes."

_Twenty minutes to bake, two-ish minutes to gag one down, and less than one minute to slip out the door,_ Tamsin told herself. _Twenty-three-ish minutes total._

A sharp knock at the door interrupted Tamsin's thoughts and she watched Lauren cross the room to answer the door. The door opened to reveal a tall, black man with a stern expression.

"Dr. Lewis," the addressed Lauren in a deep, baritone voice. "We seem to have a problem."

"Don't we always."

"Yes, well, you know you must fix it."

The man's voice reminded Tamsin of Batman.

"How serious?" Lauren asked. The man looked over Lauren's head with ease and seemed to finally notice Tamsin.

"Who is _this?_" he asked, squinting at Tamsin.

"Just someone who suffered a concussion. How could I not treat her when it was right in front of me?"

The man still seemed suspicious of Tamsin, who'd decided to get out of the man's view, but refocused himself on Dr. Lewis.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Tamsin announced as she fled up the stairs.

"It seems we endured an act of terrorism. Many Fae were injured in the process. The attacker had some sort of bomb and blew up the building," he reported as he took an evidence bag out of the pocket of his jacket. "We were wondering if you could figure out how it was assembled and how it worked. I'll be sending the injured your way later today— they're being questioned now. I suggest you get rid of that _human_ before then."

"She'll be gone after breakfast, Sir."

"Very good. One o'clock... And don't be late," he called after himself as he exited. Lauren closed the door.

"You can come down now," she called up the stairs.

Tamsin came downstairs and asked, "What's with Batman?"

"One of my bosses," Lauren sighed, fiddling with the necklace around her neck.

"Oh. D'he give that to you?" Tamsin asked, gesturing toward the necklace. She knew people subconsciously fiddled with something when talking about the person who gave it to them.

"Yeah," Lauren sighed again. "Well... Sort of. Indirectly."

"I'll admit, I was kind of eavesdropping..." Tamsin admitted, staring at the floor. "Sounds like there's trouble in Gotham City. It sounds serious."

"It- It is," Lauren replied, not bothering to lie. "And I can just look at this and tell you it was a pipe bomb."

"How do you know?"

"I just know."

"Did you do that?" Tamsin asked nervously. She'd been relaxing, assuming that if this woman had a job in a lab and was a doctor, she had to have most of her sanity in tact. That was, until now.

"This?" Lauren asked, holding the remnants up. "No."

Tamsin relaxed a little again, but saw a distant look in the doctor's eyes. The ding of the oven interrupted the heavy silence and Lauren went to retrieve the muffins from it. Tamsin settled down at the counter, sitting on one of the stools. Lauren placed the tray down, stacked the muffins on a plate and put it on the counter in front of Tamsin. She got out two small plates and put one in front of Tamsin and left the other in front of herself.

"You're the guest," Lauren gestured to the muffins. "You take first."

Tamsin hesitantly took the one from the top and peeled the paper off before taking an apprehensive bite. The muffin was perfect and the blueberries didn't bother Tamsin at all, much to her surprise. It was warm, moist, and chewy, the example of a perfect muffin and didn't even need butter. She looked up at Lauren who was only beginning to peel the paper off hers.

"These are _amazing_," Tamsin's words slipped out of a full mouth. She finished chewing and swallowed the mouthful.

"Thank you," Lauren replied as she took a small bite out of her own. "You sound surprised."

"Oh, sorry..." Tamsin felt embarrassed. She took another bite.

"No, no. That's alright."

"It's just that they're so good," Tamsin told her, suddenly realizing she'd finished her first muffin already.

"Take another," Lauren encouraged her. She suppressed the urge to tell her about the carbon dioxide bubbles because she was told explaining the process was boring and extraneous.

"Will do," Tamsin readily obliged. She took another and watched Lauren who seemed to be suppressing something. She figured it wasn't any of her business, so she asked, "What's your secret? Not that I could replicate this anyhow..."

"CO₂ bubbles," Lauren practically exploded. "They're what creates the airiness and when you add the correct amount of baking powder and measure the fat content to retain the bubbles. Then the eggs will act as a binding element."

Tamsin could only blink at her.

"I'm sorry, that was boring..." Lauren sighed. She finished her muffin.

"No... I was just thinking, 'So this is what I missed in Chem. class.' Guess I should've listened harder," Tamsin told her with a small smile before taking a bite. Lauren smiled appreciatively at Tamsin for putting up with her nerdy outburst. Tamsin wolfed the remaining chunk of her muffin down. "Well, guess I should get going..."

Lauren didn't reply.

"Thanks for everything," Tamsin thanked her as she made her way to the door.

"Tamsin, wait..." Lauren sighed.

_Is she going to let me take some more of those muffins?_ Tamsin wondered greedily.

"You live in your truck... Stay here."

"S-Stay _here?_" Tamsin asked incredulously, making sure she'd heard the doctor correctly.

"Yeah," Lauren sighed once more, almost looking like she regretted the offer. "Look, I'll let you go so you can retrieve your truck, but promise you'll come back?"

"Sure."

How could she have said no? She could tell that the doctor was a sweet person and she'd shown her hospitality even after she'd almost stabbed her with a needle.


	4. Oh, I'm Not Interested At All

Tamsin got into her truck and sighed, staring at the steering wheel. She'd said sure to the doctor, but they barely knew each other and now she was going to move in with her? Wasn't that like a couple's thing? Not that she would say no to a relationship with the doctor, but still... They barely knew each other. The woman had strange men coming to the door, talking of terrorists and whatnot. Not that Tamsin wasn't obscure herself, but she feared what kinds of things the doctor was wrapped up in. Even if she was only a human, the doctor could get into serious trouble and Tamsin didn't want to have to protect her from something using her own methods if someone broke in. That's expose her for what she really was and that was not allowed in the Fae world. But she also knew that she saw a pathetic look of loneliness in the doctor's eyes. A loneliness she knew too well. She decided to stay with her, but only for a little while. She didn't know how she'd get out, but she knew she probably should at some point, before shit got too deep. She started her truck and began her drive back.

•••

Lauren rushed around, trying to fix up her apartment, but it was difficult to find anything to readjust because everything was already neat and in its intended place so she had a lot of nervous energy and nothing to expend it on. She took a few deep breaths. She knew she was kind of crazy for inviting a person who was practically a stranger into her house. She hadn't even thought of why the woman possibly wanted to kill herself or why she lived in her truck or why she seemed as though she were a pawn for major criminals, from what Lauren understood of her explanation of her job description that is, before she stated she was a detective.

Lauren put the muffins away and cleaned off the counter. She decided to look into the pipe bombing, wondering and almost hoping it was her brother. Years ago, they used to make pipe bombs for fun and every time they made one, they left a signature on the bomb. Nothing significant enough to be detected, but significant enough that they'd know it was one of theirs. She'd have to look more into it to look for a signature, but her main concern now was to treat the injured Fae. She walked out her door only to come back within a few seconds to scratch out a note to Tamsin where she'd gone in case she came back before she returned. Then she left out the door for a second time.

•••

Tamsin walked in, half expecting the doctor to be sitting on the couch, waiting for her. She wasn't. Tamsin sighed and figured that maybe living with the doctor wouldn't be so bad after all if she was hardly ever home. She glanced over at the counter and noticed not only the absence of the muffins, but also a note.

_Tamsin,  
Went to treat bomb patients.  
Be back later. Don't know how long they'll keep me.  
Don't worry and don't wait up for me.  
I have some leftover dinner from last night if you want it.  
Don't worry, I didn't touch it.  
—Lauren_

Her signature looked more like an L with scribbles following rather than the name 'Lauren' Tamsin noticed. The note made her feel weird. They barely knew each other and now she was getting notes and leftovers left for her from Lauren? Wasn't that like a couple's thing? Not that she would say no to a relationship with the doctor, but still... They barely knew each other. She decided to seize the alone time to take a shower while Lauren was out.

•••

"My arm's blown off," a man screamed at her. "D'you think you could reattach it?"

"Is it frozen?"

"No, you think I had time to freeze it while I was tying a _god damn tourniquet!?_"

"Then no."

"What do you mean 'no?'"

"No as in I can't reattach it."

"Dumb human," the man spat. "I don't know why the Light took you in. You're _useless_."

"Am I? Oh. Sorry. Guess I should be useless elsewhere," Lauren retorted, walking away from him.

"Get back here!"

"Hi, I'm Dr. Lauren. I'm here to help, if you'll let me," she smiled at a woman while repeating the phrase she'd said many times in the past few minutes. She ignored the screaming man.

"I can't find my husband. He's a part of the committee. He'd gone to the bathroom, but he never came back."

Lauren's eyes wandered over to the shouting man.

"No, that's not him," the woman told her, answering the question that'd been running through her mind. She read Lauren's next thought and replied, "Yes, I'm a telepath."

Lauren smiled.

"Yes, it is kind of like having a one-sided conversation," the woman replied to her thought the minute it appeared. "Except I can't turn it off."

Lauren reached into her own bag and took out a pill and prepared to swallow it.

"That'll turn your brain signals off from mine? Cool. Guess I'll have a legit conversation for once," the woman remarked. In reply to the last thought she'd seen from Lauren, she stated, "No, I don't miss my husband."

"Why?" Lauren asked, relishing the chance to speak.

"Because we kind of only married to create a link between two families and it was a duty we held to our families and all that crap," the woman replied. She herself relished the chance to have a one-on-one conversation rather than the one-sided ones she usually had, although not being able to read Lauren's thoughts also made her a bit paranoid. As Lauren reached into her bag again, the woman nervously asked, "What are you doing?"

"Fixing your arm. It's broken."

"I hadn't even noticed!" the woman exclaimed.

"Probably because you're in shock," Lauren replied, splinting the arm as best as she could. "You'll be fine, though. It wasn't even an open fracture. I don't have an X-ray machine with me, so you'll have to go to the hospital if you want this to heal correctly. I'm kind of here to work like a paramedic. Fix you up before you get there."

"Okay," the woman nodded, relaxing. "Thank you."

"Not a problem," Lauren replied with a smile.

•••

Tamsin got out of the shower and realized she didn't have a towel. She shrugged and figured she could get dressed before Lauren got home anyhow. She ran out into Lauren's bedroom, searching through her own bag for clothes to wear.

"Tamsin, is that you upstairs?" Lauren called as she began making her way up. Tamsin panicked. She hadn't heard Lauren come in. "I hope so otherwise I'm coming upstairs to meet the intruder— and my _death!_"

"_Shit_," Tamsin murmured to herself. She ran back to the bathroom and snatched a bathrobe off the door and wrapped it around herself. It smelled like Lauren. Sweet, gentle and something else that Tamsin couldn't place. Tamsin wasn't sure how she'd gotten a whiff of Lauren to recognize that this was her smell, but she knew it was her. It also smelled clean, but that wasn't what she was worried about. She was more worried about what the doctor would think of her wearing it.

"Tamsin?"

"Bathroom," she called out. She hoped Lauren would respect her privacy.

"Oh, okay. Coming in. I need my saline."

"Wait, what—"

Tamsin was cut off as Lauren barged in, paying no notice to the wet, naked Valkyrie wearing her bathrobe.

"Oh!" Lauren exclaimed, never even blushing. "I thought you were fully-clothed. I'm sorry."

Tamsin was silent.

"Are you expecting more of a reaction? Because I'm a doctor, so I see this stuff all the time..." Lauren struggled to keep back a smile.

"You may see this stuff all the time, but as a person who doesn't go to the doctor all the time, I don't experience this feeling of humiliation all the time, so if you could just..." Tamsin made a shooing motion with her hands.

"That's a nice color on you, by the way," Lauren smiled as she left the bathroom.

_Shut up_, Tamsin thought, although she enjoyed the compliment.

"Let's make a trade," Lauren called through the door. I've got your bag with your things. I'll give it to you if you can get my saline for me."

Tamsin was silent yet again.

"It's not really a deal to decline. I'm sure you don't want me coming in again..."

Tamsin popped the door open just enough to get her hand out and give Lauren the saline and Lauren squeezed the bag through to Tamsin.

"Thank you," Lauren called. Tamsin quickly slipped on a white shirt and some jeans and emerged from the steamy bathroom. "I'll start dinner in a maybe like fifteen or twenty minutes. Did you have lunch?"

Tamsin shook her head.

"Me neither. I was busy all day. You?"

"Sitting in my truck... Driving around... Showering..."

This time, Lauren nodded.

"Okay. Fifteen minutes, dinner. Twenty tops."

Tamsin nodded once more and went downstairs and laid down on the couch. Tamsin stared at the ceiling and concentrated on the steady ticking of a clock. When she thought about twenty minutes went by, she still saw no sign of Lauren. She gave a cushion of five more minutes before deciding to check on her.

When Tamsin found her, she was crashed out on the bed, sleeping with a book still open. Tamsin peered at the pages, realized it was some sort of science book, and gave up on trying to figure out what it was talking about. She saw that Lauren had almost finished the chapter, which was probably her original intention rather than falling asleep. She had to admit that Lauren looked cute when she was sleeping. She dog-eared the page, then realized the mistake of doing so. Lauren would have an aneurism if she woke up and saw that. Tamsin desperately tried to flatten it out, but the folding had left a nice, crisp diagonal crease.

"Look at that, Doc," she whispered jokingly to herself, desperately trying to calm herself down. "I made a right triangle. Geometry, anyone?"

Tamsin took the book downstairs and tried to find anything that'd help flatten the page and make the crease less noticeable.

_Is this what it's like to be so particular about everything?_ Tamsin wondered. _Because this sucks._

She set the book down and looked in the fridge for something to eat. She found Lauren's leftovers that'd been mentioned in her note and split the portion in half and decided to warm them up in a microwave because she'd never had the best of luck with ovens and the last thing she wanted to do was burn everything or level the apartment. She put the food on bowls and stuck them in the microwave. She spotted a closet and checked it for anything to fix the book and found an iron.

"Well, shit. I hope this works," she murmured. She laid a small piece of a dust rag over the book page and began ironing it, checking it constantly so to make sure she wasn't ruining the page further. She stood there for about ten minutes before being interrupted by the sound of Lauren's voice.

"Are you _ironing_ my _book?_" Lauren asked in disbelief. Her expression changed to amusement. "It's funny because I just woke up and thought, 'I could've sworn I was reading a book.' And then I smelled food, so I came down here and here you are."

"Alright, look. I didn't want you sleeping with the book because I've done that and frankly, you can stab yourself with the corners or get five million paper cuts or bend it or rip things and... I moved it, okay? But I didn't want you to lose your place, so I dog-eared the page. But then I knew you'd have an aneurism if you saw a dog-eared page— I made a right triangle by the way, in case you feel like doing some geometry later— so I ironed it to take the crease out and I'm sorry for touching your things. Again," Tamsin rambled, somehow managing to say everything in one breath. She dropped the iron at her side, switching it off in the process. Lauren chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Tamsin asked, unplugging the iron and wrapping the cord up.

"I hate bookmarks sticking out of books," Lauren gasped through a sudden onset of laughter. "So I dog-ear my pages anyway."

Tamsin could only stare at her.

"That, or I memorize the page number of the page I last read."

Tamsin began to chuckle too along with Lauren. She felt stupid, but not humiliatingly stupid. And that was just fine with her. When they finished laughing, the food was ready and Tamsin took the bowls out of the microwave and set them on the counter.

"You knew where the bowls were?" Lauren said this more as a comment rather than a question.

"Yeah. I remembered where you got the plates from earlier."

"You're smart," Lauren remarked. "I like that."

"No, just survival instincts," Tamsin smirked.

"I like that too," Lauren responded promptly with a smile. Tamsin gave a small smile back.


	5. That's What I'm Running Away From

Months had gone by and Tamsin and Lauren had settled into a nice routine; Lauren was gone for most of the day and Tamsin would waste time by going to a nearby Fae bar or working under the guise of a human detective or just straightening whatever Lauren thought needed to be straightened. Sometimes they'd get home around the same time and other times one, usually Lauren, would be home much later than the other, but that was fine because they were housemates and nothing more. Sure they might've realized somewhere along the way at they'd developed feelings for one another, but neither was willing to admit it. They would occasionally argue, but it was never over a big thing and it never left bad feelings. Lately, Lauren had been on Tamsin's case about picking up after herself and eating properly.

"Tamsin, I keep finding light blonde strands of hair everywhere and they're obviously not mine," Lauren complained, gesturing to her own darker blonde hair. "People at work are asking me if I've adopted a cat and I've taken to carrying a lint brush with me everywhere. I'm just saying that maybe if you ate properly, you'd receive proper nutrition and you wouldn't lose your hair. It'd solve a lot of problems..."

Tamsin didn't reply. She'd been desperately trying to very carefully pick up any huge clumps of hair she'd lost, but it seemed she always missed some strands and of course Lauren always seemed to find every single one. Her hair loss problem was actually much worse than what Lauren was aware of. If she simply ran her fingers through her hair or the wind blew too hard, she'd lose a good-sized clump. She'd even taken to tying her hair back so if she did lose any, the amount that actually fell would be minimal. Even that didn't seem to do much good.

"Tamsin, can you hear me?"

Silence.

"Tamsin, are you _ignoring_ me?"

Still no answer.

"_Tamsin!_"

"No, I'm not ignoring you. I can hear you just fine," Tamsin sighed.

"It'd be nice if you could acknowledge me," Lauren commented.

"Sorry."

Tamsin wondered if this was the opportunity she'd been waitIng for in order to get out from under Lauren's roof. She didn't want to go, but she knew this would happen eventually. And she had to face the facts. She was Fae and she was dying soon. Her options were to get out while she could or stay here and be reborn and have Lauren left with a small child that would very quickly grow back into her and then have to explain all of that.

"Tamsin, I'm being called to another case," Lauren sighed as she looked at her phone in response to the noise it made. "I have to go."

"Fine," Tamsin answered softly. "Bye, Lauren."

Lauren faltered, not used to Tamsin saying goodbye. She'd never really said goodbye to her. She only ever acknowledged her departure. She would say things like 'Yup,' or 'Okay,' or 'Fine,' or even 'See ya,' but never 'Bye.'

"Bye, Tamsin," Lauren delicately replied back, matching Tamsin's soft tone. And with that, she left. Tamsin sighed and got off the couch, sauntered upstairs, and began packing her belongings. She did this hurriedly so she could be gone by the time Lauren got back— she believed it was for the best. Just as she was putting the last possession in her bag, her cell phone rang. She had a small hope that it was Lauren, but it wasn't. It was one of her boss' employees.

"What?" she asked sharply.

"Tamsin!" he exclaimed. "Good to know you're still kickin'!"

Tamsin rolled her eyes and waited for him to continue.

"Hey, a little birdie told me you've holed up with a certain woman..." he trailed off and paused for a moment. "What do you know about her?"

"Why?" Tamsin asked, suspicious of his intentions.

"I need to know if she's someone we're lookin' for."

"Well, whatever you heard, it's not true. I'm not living with anyone, I only have my truck. Remember?"

"Tamsin, listen to me. This is important. She could be... a... threat. Of some sort."

"And where'd you get that from?"

"Does the term 'pipe bomb' ring any bells?" he asked smugly, knowing he'd hit something. Tamsin froze. "Did you know she could assemble one of those in her sleep with her hands tied behind her back?"

Tamsin still didn't answer.

"Look, we're not looking for her anyhow, so don't worry 'bout your lady friend. No, we're lookin' for somethin' she has," he went on.

"What's that?" Tamsin asked, knowing she'd be sent to retrieve whatever it was.

"Does she know you're Fae?"

"No, why would I tell her that? She's human," Tamsin spat, her voice dripping with condescendence.

"Oh, I guess you haven't heard. She's a doctor—"

"Well of course I knew _that_—"

"To the _Light Fae_..." he allowed his words to fade, letting the information sink in. "Anyway, it's a good thing she don't know you're Fae. And here I was, calling to compliment your ingenuity... Masquerading as a human. Impersonating a helpless mortal. And gaining the trust of the Light Fae's human doctor. I thought that surely you must've thought that through and through. Gaining access to her house... Her lab... Her archives..."

"What is it that I need to get?" Tamsin interrupted impatiently.

"I don't know. The man above me says it's real important, but he won't tell me what it is. Says you'll know it when you see it. Oh, and you better hurry," he chuckled. "Because time is most definitely not on your side. It's just tick-tick-tickin' away..."

"Shut up."

"Oh, you don't like that? Hey— I just got an incoming message. Boss says he wants you to come on over and pick up a little flask. Says it'll help in some way. Good luck."

And with that, the man hung up. Tamsin sighed and put her phone away. She kicked her bag under the bed so Lauren wouldn't trip over it and went out to her truck. Inside, she saw a note sitting on the passenger's seat. She checked the truck doors and the windows, but nothing had been tampered with. She sat in the truck, closed the door, and picked up the note to read it.

_I live for a sword first and foremost.  
Obtain the sword of Thisbe and bring it to me.  
Do not tell a living soul.  
Be cautious for its possessor can be deadly.  
Obtain the archive's largest book,  
that speaks of life and death.  
Speak a word of the text  
and the text shall speak back,  
but be careful what you say.  
Words can kill, you know that better than anyone.  
Silence is key._

"God damn riddles. It's always riddles with you," Tamsin murmured, crumpling the note and shoving it into her pocket before driving off.

•••

"You're a Valkyrie," the woman stated. "You must be Tamsin."

"Congratulations, you guessed correctly. You win a prize," Tamsin retorted flatly, making sure to keep her distance. "And you're a disgusting life-sucking Underfae."

"Hey, it's nothing a little makeup can't fix..." the woman sighed sadly. "Tamsy, do I really look all that bad?"

"You're really asking me that? Here?" Tamsin looked around the dark cave. She could barely see a thing. "And don't call me that."

"Yes! Tell me the truth, Tamsy."

"You..." Tamsin struggled to think of something that could be taken as a compliment even if it wasn't actually one. "Have the fairest complexion of anyone in my life."

"Oh do go on!" she exclaimed, happily.

"And you could catch the attention of any passerby. Man, woman, or otherwise," Tamsin continued. She could make out a small smile on the woman's face.

"You always know what to say," whispered dreamily. "Even if it's not true."

"But that is true," Tamsin pointed out.

"It may be, but those cannot be compliments in my case," the woman admitted. "Tamsy, look at me—"

"Please stop calling me that."

"No, look at me. I'm a Jiang Shi."

"Yes, I know what you are," Tamsin replied. "It's fairly obvious."

"Then you should know that I am the picture of death."

"I know death very well."

"I cannot move very well... Not anymore. My skin has a slight tinge of green now..."

"I was not aware of that."

"It's an aging process. For corpses... Oh how I wish I wasn't a corpse! I would go out and see the world..."

"You could... Just not in the day."

"No... I couldn't..."

"Well, there's something I came here to ask of you."

"What is it, Tamsy?"

"The sword. I need it," Tamsin confessed.

"What sword?" she asked innocently.

"The one and only significant sword in your possession," Tamsin replied flatly. "Thisbe's sword."

"No."

"I really need that sword and I really don't want to forcefully take it from you," Tamsin warned.

"I don't think you understand," the Jiang Shi stated coldly. "I could _kill_ you and absorb your life force in the blink of an eye. In a heartbeat. And it'd be the last beat your heart ever beat. I'd do it without hesitation too. It's been so long since I last fed... _Don't_ tempt me."

"Do you need a hug?" Tamsin asked suddenly, sensing the woman's loneliness. She had a sick, heavy feeling in her gut.

"I would love one..." she sighed.

"Well, I'll hug you if you promise not to harm me," Tamsin offered.

"Why? I'm still not going to give you the sword."

"I know. And that's okay. I'm lonely too. I know what that feels like. I know what it's like to have to leave everything you love behind. Just let me hug you. You'll feel better."

"...Okay," the Jiang Shi agreed. As Tamsin took a few cautious steps closer, the stench of rotting flesh invaded her nostrils and she suppressed the urge to gag. Tamsin cautiously wrapped her arms around the woman who was stiff from rigor mortis. She couldn't really hug her back too well, but she did what she could anyhow. Tamsin ever so subtly slipped a small yellow paper out of her sleeve and peered at the spell written in blood. She oriented in and swiftly pulled out of the hug and stuck the piece of paper to the Jiang Shi's forehead. The Jiang Shi was frozen in place instantaneously.

"I'm so sorry..." Tamsin whispered, the sick, heavy feeling sinking deeper into her stomach. She knew she'd taken advantage of the Jiang Shi's weakness— her loneliness. And that was a new low for Tamsin. She quickly searched the cave and found the sword thanks to its blade glinting in the dim light. She went back over to the Jiang Shi and began to speak to her again. "I knew you weren't going to give it to me, so I had to take it any way I could. I'm going to take this off of you now... Please don't hurt me. I know I deserve your worst... But please... I have someone I need to get back to and if you were to take that away from me... I don't know what she'd do."

With her heart pounding and one hand gripping the handle of the sword, Tamsin removed the small piece of paper from the Jiang Shi's head and she could move again.

"Tamsin! You have _betrayed_ me! You have hurt me in the worst way possible..." she sobbed. Tamsin waited, but she said nothing more.

"I'm—"

"I know. You're sorry. You said that. But does that fix this? No!"

"You need to calm down before you do something you regret," Tamsin warned.

"Don't tell me to calm down when you're the one that made me like this! All you ever did from the start was lie!" the Jiang Shi cried shrilly.

"We only met a few minutes ago!" Tamsin shouted back.

"I thought you loved me!"

"I _do_ love you!" Tamsin yelled, hoping she'd calm down if she said that.

"You do?" the Jiang Shi asked through her tears.

"Yes, I do," Tamsin breathed. "A-And I'll prove it to you."

"How?"

"Well... I'd- I'd like to—" Tamsin could barely get the sentence out. The idea was absolutely disgusting, but she knew she'd have to do it. It was the only way she was getting out of there. "K-Kiss you."

"Kiss me? Oh, Tamsin! You hopeless little romantic..." the Jiang Shi exclaimed, wiping her tears. Tamsin tried to ignore the new smell of moist rotting flesh as she stepped closer to the Jiang Shi once again. She closed her eyes, not wanting to look at the woman's peeling face and put her lips to the rough, cracked lips of the Jiang Shi. Decomposition was everywhere. The smell in Tamsin's watering eyes and nostrils, the taste in her mouth. It was nothing she'd ever experienced before and nothing she'd ever wish to experience again. As soon as their lips met, she began sucking the air from the Jiang Shi's mouth. She'd learned a while back that Jiang Shi's inhaled one last breath and never really exhaled it out and the only way to deanimate them was to take the breath out. The Jiang Shi fell to the ground with tears still in her eyes, frozen and unable to move, think or feel. Tamsin wiped her own mouth off with the sleeve of her jacket, but it did nothing. She picked up the sword and drove immediately to a store and bought mouthwash and returned to Lauren's apartment.

•••

Tamsin walked into the apartment and felt a sudden sense of sadness sweep over her. A heaviness in the air that she couldn't quite explain. She set the sword in the back corner of a closet, a closet that didn't appear to have been touched for quite some time. She trudged up the stairs, hoping to shower and get the stench of decomposition off before Lauren got home. As she walked into the bedroom, Lauren sat on the edge of the bed facing the other way, sobbing softly.

"Lauren?" Tamsin whispered with deep concern. "What happened?"

Lauren turned around to face Tamsin and her eyes lit up instantaneously. She practically jumped to her feet and ran over to hug her. Tamsin stood there with her arms pinned to her sides from the doctor's embrace.

"Tamsin, I thought you'd left... I felt so bad for lecturing you and all your stuff was gone and—" Lauren stopped abruptly and took a few sharp inhales. "_What_ is that smell?"

"Uh..." Tamsin couldn't think of an excuse. She was already taken by surprise by Lauren's reaction to her walking in.

"Is that... _Decomp?_"

"Yeah. Uh, we uncovered a dead body at work. It'd been dead for... a long time," Tamsin lied. "It was absolutely disgusting."

"Yeah, but you smell like you hugged the damn thing," Lauren joked. She felt Tamsin tense up. "Relax, I was just kidding."

"Oh," Tamsin replied. She broke the unnaturally long hug. "I'm going to shower."

"I'll get dinner ready," Lauren replied. "And don't worry... I'll wash my hands first."

While Tamsin showered, Lauren went down to the kitchen to begin cooking. She spotted a reddish stain on her counter and sniffed it. After concluding it was wine, obviously spilled by Tamsin, she took a paper towel and began scrubbing at it, but the stain refused to fade completely. She sighed and went to retrieve the small bottle of Wine Out Stain Remover. As she opened the cabinet, she caught another whiff of decomposition from a closet. She set the bottle down and opened the closet, revealing a huge sword that she knew wasn't hers. She stared at it, knowing she'd seen it somewhere and remembered it was Thisbe's sword. She knew Tamsin must've brought it home, but did Tamsin know its significance in the Fae world? Did she even know it was a Fae relic? Why did she even have it at all whether she knew about the Fae or not? Was she Fae? Had she been housing a Fae all this time? Questions poured into Lauren's head. She heard the water stop and she quickly closed the closer and removed the wine stain from the counter. She had only just begun the process of making dinner when Tamsin came down, surprisingly in her bathrobe.

"I enjoy this bathrobe a lot," Tamsin admitted sheepishly with a grin. "Hope you don't mind."

"It's fine," Lauren replied, sharply than she'd meant to. Tamsin looked at Lauren, trying to figure out what her problem was and Lauren purposely avoided meeting Tamsin's gaze. Tamsin finally gave up and looked away and settled onto a stool by the counter.

"So... What'd you do today?"

_Is she a spy? Did my boss send her so he could monitor me even closer? _Lauren wondered, eying Tamsin.

"Worked on patients, what else?" Lauren replied in that same unintentional sharp tone. Tamsin nodded, almost intimidated into not saying anything more.

"I'm- I'm sorry for scaring you like that," Tamsin said softly. "I didn't think you'd think I left. And I didn't think you'd be so upset... I hope you're not mad at me."

Lauren didn't reply. She kept focusing on placing various ingredients down rather than what Tamsin said to her.

"Did I do something?" Tamsin asked, hoping Lauren would speak again.

"Tamsin, do you believe in the Loch Ness Monster? Or how about aliens?" Lauren asked suddenly.

"Excuse me?"

"Maybe unicorns? Or maybe, I don't know, _vampires?_ Or even shapeshifters? Do you, Tamsin? Do you believe in them?" Lauren pressed. "Do you think they're real?"

She turned and faced Tamsin so she could watch her facial expressions. She crossed her arms and looked at her expecting an answer.

"I don't know what you want me to say... Is this some kind of metaphorical question on my religious faith?" Tamsin asked, trying to stretch the question.

"No. Do you believe in mythological creatures?"

"Lauren, do you hear yourself? Do I believe in mythological creatures. Wouldn't you think they're called mythological creatures because they're _mythological?_ _Myths?_" Tamsin asked, avoiding answering the question yet again.

"Why don't you believe in them?" Lauren asked.

"I don't know... Do you believe in them?" Tamsin asked, in one final attempt to turn it around. Lauren was caught off guard and Tamsin could see that.

"I'm missing a book, Tamsin," Lauren remarked coolly, changing the subject. "Any idea where it went?"

"What book?"

"It's a book on life and death. Fantasy of course. It has pictures and facts about the life and vulnerabilities of various... _mythological_ creatures called Fae."

"No, I wouldn't know where that'd be. I thought you only had science-y books," Tamsin answered. She paused before putting two and two together. "Wait, is this what this is all about? You're suddenly being so cold because I'm Fae?"

"So you _are_ Fae," Lauren pressed.

"Yeah. I am."

"And you didn't think to mention that to me."

"Well, no. I didn't think you were a _Fae-cist_," Tamsin shot back, smirking at her own joke.

"I'm not, but having Fae in my life, in my personal business... That's what I'm running away from."

"Oh, and I don't suppose I'm the only one hiding something, Ms. Light Fae Doctor, is that right?" Tamsin added, her volume rising. Lauren's words of running away from Fae stung.

"Why is that even important?" Lauren asked loudly, unaware of the effect of her words on Tamsin.

"Because I'm _Dark_ Fae!" Tamsin blurted. She took a deep breath before lowering her volume. "I'm Dark Fae, alright?"

All of Lauren's fears of being monitored by her boss evaporated at Tamsin's confession. She was relieved, but she also couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"So let me get this straight. I've not only been housing a mysterious stranger, but also a Fae. But not just any Fae, no, a _Dark_ Fae. In a Light Fae property. Are you _serious_ right now, Tamsin?" Lauren asked, not bothering to lower her voice. "And _none_ of this seemed like something worth mentioning? _Nothing?_"

Tamsin went silent. Lauren crossed her arms.

"_What_ _are you?_" she asked through clenched teeth.

"Come again?" Tamsin asked, incredulous at Lauren's brash behavior.

"What kind of _Fae_ are you?" Lauren repeated stiffly. Tamsin could almost hear Lauren's resentment on the word Fae. "What species?"

"Valkyrie," Tamsin replied quietly, hanging her head. Lauren relaxed a little, feeling that wasn't too bad. It wasn't a Fae that'd kill her in her sleep as far as she was concerned. But she knew this was a cunning and conniving type of Fae— though she hadn't felt that she'd been swindled quite yet.

"Is that what you were doing today? Claiming a soul? Is that why you smelled like that?" Lauren asked, her usually calm demeanor slowly returning. Tamsin shook her head. "Then what were you doing?"

"Getting a sword."

"The sword in my closet. Thisbe's sword," Lauren nodded. She ran her hand through her hair and suddenly a light of recognition lit up behind her eyes. "That would explain why you're losing your hair... Tamsin, I'm sorry..."

"It's fine," Tamsin replied, still staring down. "You didn't know."

"I still shouldn't have flipped out on you like that... I care about you, Tamsin. A lot."

"Oh boy, here we go," Tamsin sighed, rising from her stool. "No need to say any more. I'll go get my things."

As badly as Lauren wanted to stop her, something inside her didn't allow her to call out after her as the Valkyrie made her long trek up the stairs. Lauren bit her nails, a habit that didn't usually surface in her anymore. As Tamsin came back down, Lauren gently took the bag from her and dropped it.

"Let's go out somewhere..." Lauren suggested. "We need to talk about some things..."

"I know a neutral Fae bar..." Tamsin replied.

"The Dal Riata?" Lauren asked. Tamsin nodded in confirmation. "Let's go then."

•••

"That's really why you know so much about pipe bombs?" Tamsin asked, completely taken by surprise. She took another swig of her whisky.

"Yeah... It is," Lauren admitted, also taking a sip from her wine. "I'm not too proud of that."

"Well, if there's anything I learned in all my time of living... It's that what's passed is past and there's nothing you can do about it."

"That's depressing."

"It is, yeah. But also... You know if, for whatever reason, you're in the same situation ever again, you'll do the right thing. But then again, life isn't too keen on giving second chances, so... We're back to it being depressing. Yay," Tamsin remarked emotionlessly. They sat there in silence for a few minutes, listening to the background murmur of all the different conversations happening at the same time and the occasional clinking of glasses or the knocking sound from the nine-ball tables.

"Tamsin, I don't want you to leave," Lauren said suddenly, breaking the silence between them. She fiddled with her wineglass around in front of her, turning it ever so slightly until it was back at its original position. "I want you to stay with me."

"Lauren... That's not a good idea," Tamsin told her.

"Tamsin, please..." Lauren begged softly. She tried to make eye contact with Tamsin, but she wasn't having it. She sighed and turned back to her wineglass.

"Come here," Tamsin requested, taking Lauren's hand. "You're a bit tipsy. We need to get you out of here. You're not thinking straight."

"You're right I'm not," Lauren giggled, leaning in toward Tamsin once they were outside.

"Is this amusing to you?" Tamsin asked, struggling to keep Lauren in tow.

"It is. Because I'm not thinking straight," Lauren repeated. Tamsin opened the door to her truck and gently guided Lauren in.

"What's that even supposed to mean?" Tamsin asked, starting the truck. She backed out of the parking space and began to drive.

"I'm not thinking straight," Lauren said yet again. "I'm thinking on _you_."

Tamsin slammed on the brakes. And turned to look at Lauren. She stared at her glossy brown eyes and the silly grin she had on her face and wondered if she was speaking the truth. Lauren stared back.

"We're going home," Tamsin told her in all seriousness. "_Now_."

"Aw, but why? I thought we were having so much fun..." Lauren whined.

"We were, but you've had too much fun for tonight... I think," Tamsin explained. She drove them promptly home and put Lauren in her bed. "Goodnight... Hopefully you don't vomit."

"Ew, that's gross," Lauren replied. "Hey, Tamsin... _Pssst_, I have to tell you something. But shhhh, it's a secret."

"What is it?" Tamsin asked, leaning in to hear her better. Lauren seized this moment to turn Tamsin's head and kiss her on the lips. When she pulled away she smiled at Tamsin before dreamily closing her eyes. "Oh. That kind of secret."

Tamsin then returned downstairs and laid down on the couch, thinking about everything Lauren had told her. The pipe bomb killings with her brother. The entire enslavement with the Fae situation. And the kiss. Tamsin wondered if Lauren would ever try to find her brother or if her brother would ever try to find her. She wondered how he was now. She put her hand through her hair, not knowing what to make of everything. As she pulled her hand away, a clump of hair came with it. She went to move to throw it out, but suddenly felt extremely tired and decided she'd throw it away in the morning before Lauren got up. She clutched it in her hands as if to protect it before falling fast asleep.


	6. Don't Fight It

Lauren tiptoed downstairs, not wanting to wake Tamsin if she was still asleep. As she made her way past to the couch, she stole a glance at the sleeping Valkyrie and smiled before noticing a large amount of hair in the Valkyrie's hand. Her fingers curled around the hair protectively, almost as if never wanting to give it up. A twinge of sadness stabbed into Lauren's chest. She pushed the thought from her mind and began preparing breakfast as quietly as possible. She got out some bread and eggs after deciding to keep it simple.

Tamsin woke up to the smell of toast being cooked in the toaster and she opened her eyes to, keeping her stare at the ceiling. She listened to Lauren's soft footsteps walking around the kitchen. She heard the light footsteps coming closer and she snapped her eyes shut and pretended to be sleeping. She felt Lauren shake her gently, but continued with her pretense of sleeping. Then she felt Lauren's hair on her shoulder and assumed Lauren was checking for breathing. Once Lauren confirmed that Tamsin was still breathing, she left her alone. Tamsin heard to her begin to eat and waited until Lauren finished and had gone upstairs before rising. She wondered why Lauren was still home and not at work like she normally would be. She opened her eyes once more and rolled over onto her other side.

"Oh good. You're awake," Lauren called over to her. Tamsin flinched, not remembering hearing the doctor come back down. "I hope you don't mind, but I went and had breakfast without you. You were sleeping and I didn't want to wake you."

"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" Tamsin asked curiously. She sat up and looked at the doctor who was wearing her bathrobe. Lauren stood there holding her bathrobe closed with her hair dripping wet. Tamsin felt awkward and averted her eyes.

"Good morning to you too," Lauren joked. She reached for the belt of the bathrobe and tied it shut. "No, I took the day off."

"Oh," Tamsin replied.

"But there are a few things I left in my work lab, so I'll probably have to stop by and get them... I better act like I belong on my deathbed though," Lauren thought aloud.

"Better get them now," Tamsin suggested. "You know, before too many things happen to put the Ash in a bad mood."

"Good idea," Lauren nodded in agreement. "I'll go get dressed now. Have your breakfast."

Tamsin nodded at her and went into the kitchen to retrieve her breakfast from the fridge. She saw a plate with eggs and toast on it and a glass or orange juice next to it. She grabbed both, set them on the counter, and got a fork and began eating without sitting down. Within a few minutes, Lauren came back down and was ready to go.

"I'll be back, okay?" Lauren stated. "Bye."

"See ya," Tamsin replied with a mouthful. As soon as Lauren left, Tamsin whipped out her phone to check for missed calls. Sure enough, she'd missed one. She dialed the number back and waited for the call to be answered.

"Heya, T!" the man's annoying voice greeted her loudly. "Good to see ya got my call. Listen, Boss says there's a change of plans."

"Great," Tamsin sighed. "Well if there's that big of a plan change, I'm going to need the good doctor's book back."

"Rightfully so," the man answered. "And I'll get that to ya ASAP."

"So what's the plan?"

"No plan, but... We need you to get us an image of that pipe bomb. Boss says he's onto something."

"Why is this of any importance to him?" Tamsin inquired.

"I don't know."

"Helpful."

"So anyway, you can give the sword back to the Jiang Shi and like I said before, we'll give that book right back."

"The Jiang Shi's dead," Tamsin reported.

"You killed a Jiang Shi?"

"Yeah. I did."

"You're a trooper... Keep the sword! You've just gained a whole new level of respect from me. And I'm not joshing you this time."

"Whatever."

"One more thing, Tamsin."

"Yeah?"

"Has Lauren mentioned... a brother?"

"No, why?"

"We believe she has one—"

"Psh."

"—and we may have found him."

"Yeah, okay. And the pipe bomb would confirm this supposed brother?"

"Well, yes."

"I'll send a picture your way. It's the best I can do."

"Sounds good."

Tamsin hung up and went to search for the pipe bomb. She was about to rummage through a drawer, but remembered just how particular Dr. Lewis was. She snapped a picture of the drawer, slipped on some gloves and looked through it. Forceps, unused syringes, dry small graduated cylinders, empty test tubes, but no exploded pipe bomb. Tamsin peeled one glove off, located the picture of what the drawer looked like before, and put the one glove back on in order to match the position of the items in the drawer to the ones they had in the picture before deleting the picture. She closed the drawer carefully so as not to disturb them. Next, she went into what looked like a locker. She saw a corner of a bag similar to the one in which the pipe bomb was held on the top shelf. She jumped and snatched the bag from the top shelf and sure enough, it was exactly what she was looking for. She carefully took it out of the bag, making sure not to displace anything and snapped a picture. She snapped a few more from various angles and from turning it over before placing it back in the bag. Just then, her phone rang.

"What?"

"Boss says you'll have to look at it yourself. Pictures won't do any good."

"Why does he always have to make it so difficult, dammit?" Tamsin complained as she cradled the phone between her shoulder and ear while she put the thing back in the bag.

"I don't know."

"I wasn't serious in asking that... Fine. What do I have to look out for?" Tamsin asked as she put the bag back on the top shelf.

"Um, he hasn't told me. Call you back?"

"Do whatever," Tamsin replied through gritted teeth. The line disconnected and she out the phone back in her pocket. She studied the bag's angle before deciding that it was slightly off from its previous position and fixed it with a light tap on the side. She carefully closed the locker and returned to her usual location of the couch. Just then, Lauren walked in with a huge grin on her face.

"The Ash was so distracted, he didn't even see me come in," Lauren announced. Tamsin ripped the gloves off her hands and stuffed them into the couch before Lauren saw them.

"Wow, that's a lucky break," she replied. Her phone rang once more and she picked it up. "What?"

"It's the pattern inside. Has it been treated? What does it look like?"

"None of your business. What am I supposed to be looking for? That's what you were supposed to call me back for," Tamsin told him firmly.

"Well, whenever the doctor treats it with some weird substance, you'll know it if you see it."

"So wouldn't the human ballistics team figure that out? Or the lab workers? Wouldn't it be obvious?"

"I don't know. The woman's a genius. I'm pretty sure the damn human could outsmart half the Fae population any day."

"I'll have to agree with you on that one," Tamsin admitted.

"You just have to get into her head, T. That's it. Alright, well that's all I got for now."

"Alright, thanks."

As Tamsin hung up, Lauren came over and asked, "Who was that?"

"Just a co-worker. From work," Tamsin replied.

"Work as in work or work as in detective work?"

"Detective work," Tamsin lied. She shifted uncomfortably.

"Tamsin, we need to talk. That's why I took today off. I'd really appreciate it if it didn't go to waste," Lauren remarked lightly.

"Okay. Let's talk. Talk about what?"

"The kiss, Tamsin."

"Oh, you remember that?"

"Um, yeah. I initiated it."

"Okay, well what is there to talk about?"

"I care about you, Tamsin. I care about you a lot. One might even say that I love you," Lauren confessed. "You've been so good to me. I know I scold you for a lot of things, but that's just me being anal about things. You've kept me company in this prison the Ash set up for me and to that I owe you so much."

"Nah, you don't owe me anything," Tamsin assured her. Guilt began eating its way through her conscience. Gnawing at her very core, trying to break it to pieces and shatter it.

"I-I was wondering if we could take the next step?" Lauren asked timidly, feeling as though she'd just stated the most corny line in history. Tamsin thought and thought. Every inch of her told her it wasn't a good idea and that she should say no. Lauren was Light Fae property. Not only Light Fae property, but the Ash's property. Not to mention Tamsin was sneaking around behind the scenes. She was bound to get caught and she didn't know whose reaction she feared most; the Ash's when he found her with Lauren or Lauren when she found out she'd been double-crossed and lied to.

"Yeah," Tamsin replied. She didn't know where that answer came from or even how it got out in the first place. She swallowed hard and said, "Yeah, we can do that."

"Great," Lauren sighed with relief. "For a minute there, I thought you were going to say no!"

_That's because I was_, Tamsin replied mentally. _But then I went and decided to be a dick because that's what I do best._

"Oh! I just remembered, I still need to look at that pipe bomb," Lauren exclaimed as she jumped to her feet. She looked back at Tamsin. "I trust you'll find some way to pass the time?"

Tamsin nodded and watched Lauren walk into the lab section of the room. Lauren put gloves, goggles, and a lab coat on and retrieved the bomb out of the locker without saying anything. Tamsin figured she'd done an exceptional job at repositioning Lauren's things. She watched as Lauren took a few drops of a dark liquid and dropped them on random spots all over and waited for something. Tamsin sauntered over and stood close behind the doctor.

"What're ya lookin' for, Doc?" she asked.

"Patterns. Any telltale signs of who could've made this. Some people like to mark their territory."

"Urine? You're looking for urine?" Tamsin feigned disgust.

"Ha, ha. Very funny," Lauren replied, still bent over it. The leftovers had a reaction with the mysterious liquid, but it was faint and subtle. If you didn't know exactly what you were looking for or what you should be looking for, anyone could've missed it. Lauren hid her reaction and continued working on it, but Tamsin knew that that had to have been the sign she had to be on the lookout for. "Looks like there aren't any patterns..."

"No? Then it's going to be hard to figure out who did it..." Tamsin remarked.

"Practically untraceable... Unless we find DNA or prints, which, I doubt there is any."

"Constructed by a genius, perhaps..."

Lauren didn't reply to this. Instead, she placed the bomb back into the bag and closed it in the locker. She had a faraway look in her brown eyes with a hint of fear.

"Something wrong?"

"No, nothing... I just really hope there aren't any more threats to the Fae with these," Lauren responded absentmindedly. Tamsin eyed her before backing away. "Where are you going?"

"Uh, nowhere special. Just the... bathroom," Tamsin answered while hustling upstairs. As soon as she was out of Lauren's field of vision, she took put her phone and called the man.

"Yello!" the man greeted. Tamsin rolled her eyes and immediately began talking.

"I saw it. I mean, I'm pretty sure I saw it," she told him.

"We thought so. Okay. Well, now there's only one thing to do," he murmured.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing for you to worry about. You've done your job and you've done it well," he assured her. "Don't you worry 'bout a thing."

"Okay..." Tamsin replied, suddenly unsure of her choices. The man hung up before she could say any more.

"Tamsin, someone's at the door," Lauren called. "Can you grab it? I'm monitoring something right now."

Tamsin rushed downstairs with a hard pit of worry in her stomach. She knew she should've called it off or lied, but she didn't and now whatever it was that they said she didn't have to worry about was going to come back and bite her— or even more likely, Lauren. She opened the door and there the man stood. Not the one she'd spoken to over the phone. Not the one in charge of the both of them, but the man that'd spoken with Lauren from the first day she'd been there.

"Dr. Lewis, may I have a word with you?" he asked stoically. His dark eyes looked over at Tamsin. "You too."

Tamsin and Lauren exchanged a look before following him out. He turned to look at both of them, his eyes somehow managing to burn holes right into their souls at the same time.

"Dr. Lewis, there is new evidence suggesting that you may be linked to the... terrorist attacks," he told her gravely. "Not directly, of course. And, given your past, I have no choice but to believe the source."

Tamsin swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Unless, of course, you'd like to pass a few of our tests rather than be put to death."

"Put to death?" Tamsin asked. "No one ever even mentioned death!"

"Major crimes against Fae, especially those of humans, are punishable by death. No questions asked. You as a Fae should know that," he watched Lauren's face. "Oh. So she knows you're Fae."

"Yes, she found out only a little while ago," Tamsin replied.

"Lauren, is this woman Dark or Light?" he inquired. "My source wouldn't tell me and for some reason, I can't find a trace of her anywhere."

"I don't know," Lauren lied. "But I would think the Dark would have more sense than to step foot on Light territory."

The man continued to eye Tamsin, hoping to make her crack under pressure, but the tactic failed.

"Alright then. You're a good doctor, Lauren. I'd hope you'd choose a test rather than a trial in which you will immediately be deemed guilty."

"Test it is," Lauren answered quietly, forcing a smile.

"Very good," he replied. "We will send over our conditions later today."

He nodded at both of the, before making a silent exit.

"I um, have somewhere I have to be," Tamsin told Lauren. "Bye! I'll be back later, okay?"

Tamsin ducked out before Lauren could reply and got into her truck. She pulled out her phone and dialed her supposed coworker back.

"Hey, can you meet me somewhere?"

"T, are you asking me out on a date?" he joked. "Sure. At the Dal."

"ASAP," Tamsin told him firmly before ending the call. She started her truck and sped away.

•••

"T! Over here!" he called, waving to her from the table. She'd only stepped in seconds ago, but it was obvious he'd been waiting for her ever since he got there. She rolled her eyes as she went to sit across from him. "I took the liberty of ordering you somethin' sweet just like you."

"Shut up," she said. "Let's talk about why I'm here."

"Okay. Sure."

She grabbed him by his shirt collar and pulled his face in close to hers and whispered to him in a dangerous, low voice.

"_You_ or someone else spilled some information to some guy about Lauren."

"Your drinks," a redhead announced to them as she placed the glasses on the table. She then noticed the position in which they were sitting and backed awkwardly away.

"I assure you that _I_ didn't tell the Ash," he replied shakily. He squirmed, trying to get free of her grip, but it was useless.

"I wasn't talking about the Ash, I was talking about Mr. _Batman_ who just showed up at her door."

"Oh. That guy. He's on the Council. We have her brother, by the way. It's definitely him."

"What do you know about the Council's tests?"

"They're emotionally taxing and ethically demoralizing, why?"

"None of your business."

"Wait, is that the punishment Lauren's getting? Oh! Are you trying to help this human terrorist?"

"No! I want to know how she'll suffer," Tamsin grinned sinisterly as she released him from her grip. She swirled her finger on the rim of the glass. "I'd like to get a sneak peak, if you don't mind. Then I can fantasize about the great pain they'll bring on the human's head. It's _delicious_."

"Well, you know how Fae love to play with humans..." he began. "I heard they're planning to reveal her brother to her and have her take a DNA sample from him and DNA that was found and confirm that it's his—"

"That doesn't sound too horrible. She likes science-y shit."

"But get this, as soon as she proves it's his... She has to deal out the punishment."

"What?"

"You know, put on a show."

"I'm still not getting where this is going—"

"She's going to have to kill him and she's going to have to make it good and bloody. If she doesn't keep the Fae Watchers entertained, she will be considered a failure of the test and will be executed promptly."

"And if she does indeed kill her brother to the Fae's satisfaction?"

"Then she will have killed her brother and the charges will be dropped. Of course, then she'll have to live with the murder of her brother on her conscience for the rest of her human life..."

"Pleasant."

"Isn't it?" he agreed, unaware of her sarcasm. "Anyway, if that's all you wanted to know, I'll just be on my way."

"No, actually... I'd like one more thing."

"Name it," he replied, taking a sip.

"I'd like to meet this... Mr. Lewis."

"Mr. _Lewis_, huh? You really don't know much about the good doctor..."

"I know plenty."

"Well, obviously she didn't give you the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God," he smirked, shaking his head. He took another sip.

"Just set up a meeting with this future victim. I'd like to play some mind games with him first," Tamsin demanded.

"Sure thing. It'll be set up by the time you get home to Dr. Lewis. Stop by the Boss' quarters early tomorrow morning."

"And you're guaranteeing this meeting so soon?"

"Yes. Screw him up real good before he sees Lauren. That'll make everything worse for her and that means a good show."

"So you're routing for her?"

"Hell _no!_ But a crazy being attacked by a weak, helpless... Well, that's just rich. I tell ya, she won't last a minute."

"She going to fight him with her bare hands?"

"Nah, T. You been alive this long and still don't know how the Fae system works? He's going to give her a choice of weapons, but everyone with a brain knows she can't fight with weaponry for _shit!_"

Instead of replying, Tamsin got up, slapped some money on the table and said, "Sorry for making you waste your money on a drink for me. Hope this covers it."

She then spun on her heel and walked out.

•••

"Tamsin, you're back," Lauren remarked. "I've been reading up on these test things and they're complete bloodbaths!"

"Oh. That doesn't sound good," Tamsin replied. She scuffed her foot on the floor.

"You don't know about them? I was kind of hoping you did so you could help me prepare," Lauren paused. "Stop doing that."

"Uh, I know a little," Tamsin hesitated as she immediately stopped scuffing her foot. "What if they make you do something really terrible?"

"What do you mean by 'terrible?'"

"Well, I witnessed two guys, two brothers, and one killed the other with a club in order to be the victor."

"Well, I don't have a brother to kill," Lauren told her. "I don't even know where my brother is in the first place, let alone plan to kill him. If that were the case, I don't know what I'd do... I'd probably just accept my own punishment and hopefully get them to set him free."

"You wouldn't fight to live?"

"Well, no. Is there anything worth killing your brother in order to live?"

"I guess even _I'm_ not worth that..." Tamsin joked. Lauren began to actually consider the options of the hypothetical situation.

"Tamsin, you know I..." Lauren faltered. "_Care_ about you. I just... In contrast with being a doctor, don't you think killing someone would be a conflict of interest?"

"Yeah, I guess it would be ironic," Tamsin nodded. She thought of something to distract Lauren from thoughts of the test. "So tell me, Doc... How does one match up DNA?"

"Well, DNA is matched when people are related," Lauren answered.

"No, like how can you tell? Like if you have two DNA samples and you want to see if they're related?"

"Are you thinking of becoming a genealogist? It's never too late to start a career," Lauren declared.

"Are you calling me old?" Tamsin smirked.

"No! Uh, no. I mean, I..."

Tamsin could see Lauren struggling so she replied, "You know what? Never mind."

"Okay? Um, I hope I didn't offend you..."

"No, you didn't," Tamsin assured her. She began trying to develop a plan that could possibly help Lauren. It'd take a lot of consideration, but she was willing to try. "Fine. I'll help you with your test."

"You will?" Lauren brightened. She gave Tamsin a quick kiss and Tamsin fought the urge to pull away.

"Yeah," Tamsin smiled. "I promise."


	7. Isn't It Amazing?

"T! Right this way," the man called over to her. He stood in front of two large double doors. "Boss is out on some other business."

Tamsin took her time walking over to him before stopping in front of the doors. The black doors towered over her in an almost menacing sort of way. She took a glance at the man before pulling both of the heavy doors open to let herself in and closing them behind her. Another man stood chained up in the center of the room underneath a skylight. The rest of the room was dimly lit, almost as if the man's captive had been showing him off under a natural spotlight.

"Are you her?" he asked timidly. He never even tried to meet her gaze. He kept his eyes on the cold, hard floor. "Are you the one they've arranged to execute me?"

"No..." Tamsin answered, her thoughts racing. She analyzed the man, looking for anything that could relate him to Lauren.

"Then what are you here for?"

"Just curiosity," she admitted. She walked a full circle around the man.

"Are you one of them?" he wondered aloud.

"Define '_them_,'" she responded promptly back. She stopped walking and crossed her arms, focusing her full attention on him.

"The creatures that take human form... The ones that locked me up here," he specified as he finally looked up at her.

"Sure," she replied. He looked back down.

"What's your power?"

"That's not an appreciated question among our kind," she told him coolly. "So tell me... Do you have a sister?"

"Yeah. I haven't seen her in a very long time," he replied.

"You're eager to give answers..."

"I get hurt if I don't answer," he told her.

"Is she blonde? Long-haired?"

"The last time I saw her she was not — either of them."

"S'she brilliant?"

"I don't know her exact IQ, but I'm sure she's past whatever's considered genius."

"She ever want to be a doctor?"

"She considered it."

"S'her name Lauren?"

"No."

"Hm," Tamsin thought. She uncrossed her arms and allowed the silence to permeate.

"She's a doctor now, from what they've told me. A doctor for your kind," he smiled thinly. He nodded his head slowly, as if approving. "I guess the job'd suit her. Humans were too easy for her, I think. I'm assuming your people are much more... complex."

"We are," Tamsin sighed.

"Why're you really here?" he asked her. He looked up at her for the second time. "With all the people that came in here these past few months, I've learned I only get visited when something is wanted of me."

"Who's to say I'm not on your side?" Tamsin asked, crossing her arms.

"Why would you be?"

Tamsin didn't have an answer for that.

"So what do you want?"

"DNA sample," she confessed. "Preferably saliva."

"You a scientist?"

"No. Nowhere near close," she chuckled, suddenly amused. She pulled out a small, empty test tube she'd swiped from Lauren. "In here."

"What're you going to do to me with that?" he asked suspiciously.

"Me? Nothing. I'm not going to do anything," Tamsin told him, sidestepping the truth. She held it out to him.

"I don't trust you," he told her firmly.

"I don't trust you either."

"What're they going to do?" he asked with a tone of surrender. "How do executions work with your people?"

"That depends on what you did," Tamsin replied. "What'd you do?"

"Nothing," he insisted.

"Well, from what I've heard, you blew up some Fae. So, they're going to put you in a room and you're going to be chained up," Tamsin told him honestly, surveying the room in which they were currently. "It might even be this very room."

The man was silent and his head hung low.

"And then your executioner will enter through the doors— the only way in and the only way out. And she'll bring a weapon with her and she will kill you."

The man shuffled his feet causing the chains to rattle.

"She'll make it slow and painful and bloody," Tamsin admitted.

"And they enjoy this? The executioners?"

"No. They don't."

"Then why do they do it?"

"It's an act of survival," Tamsin answered with an unreadable tone.

"I don't understand..."

"The executioners are often people like you. They've been accused of a crime against the Fae, but the Fae value them so much, they give them a choice. Kill another accused and put on a great bloody show and they get to live."

"And if they refuse?"

"They'll die too, just like you. At the hands of the next accused waiting in line to be the next executioner. It's a bloody cycle," Tamsin paused. "I really need the DNA, so..."

"Sure," he replied. He spit into the test tube. "What do I really have to lose at this point?"

Tamsin stared at him sadly for a moment before exiting. She didn't stop and talk to her co-worker. She didn't stop anywhere. She drove straight to Lauren's apartment.

"Tamsin, you're back," Lauren exclaimed as she watched Tamsin walk in. "I woke up and you weren't here. I got worried."

"I'm fine—" Tamsin responded as she sat down on the couch.

"Did you skip breakfast? Tamsin, you know that's not a healthy choice—" Lauren told her as she went to sit down next to her.

"Sorry."

"It's okay," Lauren replied softly, seeing that Tamsin wasn't in the mood for talking. She gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I have to head out... They're going to give me my test date. I know it'll be soon."

"Okay... Don't hurry back," Tamsin murmured, playing with Lauren's brush that was left on the table near the couch. Lauren stared at her for a few more seconds wondering if she should ask, but decided not to. As soon as Lauren was out the door, Tamsin practically sprung off the couch with the brush and was in the lab.

She tested a sample of the saliva she'd gotten from the man and a strand of hair from the brush and hoped they wouldn't match. She felt like she'd waited for forever for the results to come and much to her surprise, the DNA didn't match. She sat on Lauren's stool, stared at the results, and didn't move. She tried to process the information in her brain, but it seemed like her brain refused to accept it. Why didn't the DNA match? Why were they so sure it was her brother? His answers to her questions supported these results, but she hadn't taken them seriously. And why would the Fae have Lauren murder someone who wasn't her brother? She felt numb. She felt sick.

She didn't know what to do and she'd promised to help Lauren prepare. She didn't know how long she'd been sitting there, but she only knew she should probably move once she'd been snapped out of her trance by the sound of Lauren unlocking the door. She jolted herself out of her immobile state, removed all evidence of the DNA test and the results before diving onto the couch and pretending to sleep just as Lauren came in carrying bags.

"Tamsin, you couldn't open the door for me?" Lauren asked, setting the bags down. "You didn't hear me struggling with the door?"

Tamsin didn't reply and kept up the charade of sleeping. Lauren approached her and stared at her before violently shaking her shoulder and speaking loudly into her ear.

"Tamsin, I _know_ you're not sleeping, I _saw_ you jump onto the couch!" Lauren told her. Tamsin sighed and sat up and Lauren lowered her volume. "What are you _doing?_"

"Nothing... Just... Nothing," Tamsin sighed again. "I have some insight to your... Test."

"Great. You can help me study," Lauren responded optimistically. "I have three days."

"Lauren, it's not going to be like a written test—"

"I know."

"Studying will be training, but first I want you to know something."

"What?"

"They'll ask you to test the DNA of someone and check it with yours for something that they're telling you is there."

"Easy."

"But it will not actually be there. I don't know why, but don't think you're wrong—" Tamsin's voice caught in her throat as realization set in. They'd set her up to be perceived as a traitor. They'd tell all the Watchers that that was her brother, just as they'd tell her just moments before they sent her in. But then when asked to prove that the man— the terrorist— was her brother, the results would come out negative and since she was known as an excellent scientist and doctor, the Watchers would think she was trying to cover for him. She'd be executed right on the spot for lying.

"Tamsin, are you okay?"

Tamsin could only shake her head and give Lauren a blank stare. She couldn't believe she hadn't seen it coming. That's why the prisoner didn't know Lauren. That's why the man from the Council had been so eager to give her a supposed way out. It was only a mirage of hope for the doctor and the Fae could enjoy her oblivion right up to the point of her death.

"Lauren..." Tamsin breathed, taking a shaky deep breath as she stared at the floor. "There is no winning at their game."

She slowly looked up into Lauren's brown eyes. The look on Tamsin's face frightened Lauren. Tamsin's green eyes showed an intense fear, something she'd never seen in the Valkyrie. She suddenly lost all confidence and a heavy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach.

"You can't beat them at their own game. They have the upper hand, they always do. You can't beat them at their own game. There is no winning at their game. No winning..." Tamsin trailed off. "I'm sorry, Lauren. I've failed you. I'm so sorry..."

"Tamsin, you're scaring me. I don't even know what you're talking about," Lauren told her in a strained voice. "Please talk to me."

"I can't..." Tamsin whispered. She rose to her feet, emotionless, before robotically trudging up the stairs and mumbling to herself. "Isn't it amazing how they're always two steps ahead..."


	8. Isn't That Terribly Dangerous?

Three days had passed and Lauren's dreaded test date had arrived. Tamsin waited among the Watchers, staying out of sight. She eyed the supposed brother of Lauren who sat on the floor in chains. She'd been right and the room was the execution room and it felt odd to be there again only three days later. She didn't want to watch Lauren's test, but Lauren wanted her to be there with her so she complied. Lauren hadn't entered the room yet, but Tamsin's heart was racing. A well-dressed man whom Tamsin recognized as the Batman guy walked over to the victim and stood front and center.

"Ladies! Gentlemen! Nobles! Elders!" he announced loudly, raising his hands in a V-shape. He paused and smiled. "Watchers!"

A brief applause erupted before he could continue.

"It brings me great sorrow to report that our own Light Fae human doctor, Ms. Lewis, is tied to the recent bombings!" he declared. "However, she has the chance to redeem herself today. We have captured her dear brother, a man she hasn't seen for quite some years. He is the bomber and she is guilty of association and she will be tested today. Her first test is to prove she is indeed linked to him as we know she is. She will have to confirm that he is indeed her brother and she will do so right here in front of us with this!"

He gestured to a piece of equipment that looked familiar to Tamsin. She'd seen it in the doctor's home lab. She'd used it herself to test the man's DNA.

"She must admit that the man is her brother and show the results to the Watchers and only then will she have passed the first part of the test."

A boo erupted from the crowd and it unsettled Tamsin, knowing that everyone in the room was against her not including herself.

"Then Dr. Lewis will put on a show. You all are the judge of that. On your ballots, you have the numbers one to ten—"

Tamsin peered over a woman's shoulder to look at the card and saw the numbers one to ten just as the man had said.

"One being boring and ten being the most entertainment the damned human can bring," the man went on. "She will kill her brother using her choice of weapon. If she fails this part of the test, she will be promptly executed."

There was a lulling murmur among the crowd, everyone talking about what they thought the outcome would be. Tamsin recalled wondering if she had enough strength left to cast doubt over the entire room, but she knew she didn't. She'd barely be able to keep one Fae down, never mind fifty or so. She couldn't quite get a head count of Fae attendance, but she knew she'd be overpowered in a second.

"Dr. Lewis will now enter and the test will begin as soon as she takes a sample from her brother," the man announced. He gestured to two men waiting by the door. "Send her in."

Within minutes, Lauren entered through the double doors with the two men walking in behind her. They stopped abruptly at the door while she continued on toward the man whose back was to her.

"Dr. Lewis," the man with the Batman voice addressed her. "May I present to you your brother. The bomber."

Tamsin watched Lauren's face fell as they turned the chained man around to face her. Tamsin hated seeing the pain on Lauren's face, but she couldn't do anything about it. She had to let it happen. The two humans exchanged a look before Lauren began approaching him again, this time much more slowly.

"Brother," her voice echoed throughout. She'd been hooked up to a microphone. "I'm sorry."

The man looked down and shook his head sorrowfully. He recoiled as Lauren plucked a hair from his head. Tamsin could see her hands were shaking and her steps faltered. Tamsin watched her approach the familiar piece of equipment whose name she did not know as though it would lash out. She watched Lauren work quietly, but this time Lauren didn't appear to be lost in her work. She appeared to be somewhere else. Somewhere far, far away. An eternity passed and Lauren picked up her sheets and straightened them out before weakly holding them up.

"He is... my brother," she announced quietly, her voice cracking on the last word. She dropped her arm as she let her head hang low and she stared at the floor. When she looked back up, Tamsin saw tears in her now weary eyes and a heartbreaking look of despair.

_They've won_, Lauren's words from only two days ago echoed in Tamsin's skull. _They've won..._

A murmur rippled among the Elders and Watchers. They looked surprised, but was it because of Lauren's unexpected answer or because they were shocked at the drama show that'd been organized? Tamsin wondered if they'd even known about the plan all along or if they didn't and were completely unaware of it. She watched Lauren wait for someone to interrupt or tell her to proceed to the next portion of the test, but no one said a word. Tamsin looked away, not wanting to watch what was to come. Before she left, she watched Lauren pick a weapon. Out of the corner of her eye, she witnessed Lauren insist on a scalpel. And as Lauren went back toward the man, Tamsin made her quiet exit and brought with her a heavy guilt for lying to Lauren.


	9. Been Waiting Long?

"I had a really nice time tonight," Scarlett told Tamsin with a flirtatious smile. She bit her bottom lip.

"Great," Tamsin replied with an awkward smile. Scarlett had been coming onto her all night and despite her efforts to convey her disinterest, Scarlett persisted. She always persisted like this every single time Tamsin seemed her out.

"What do you say we get out of here?" the raven-haired woman suggested, gesturing to the inside of the Dal. "You know, go somewhere more private?"

"What, and leave this place?" Tamsin asked. "I love it here. Besides, I'd like to drink a bit more..."

"Aw, c'mon..." Scarlett pleaded. She leaned in closer to Tamsin. "You gotta learn to loosen up a bit."

Before Tamsin could react, Scarlett put down some money and grabbed her by the wrist and began leading her out the door. Tamsin tried twisting her wrist about to get free, but Scarlett had a solid grip. Before she knew it, they were out in the parking lot and sitting on the tailgate of her truck.

"You're cute, you know that?" Scarlett told her with another one of her bright smiles. She ran her hand down Tamsin's arm. "Strong too."

Tamsin rolled her eyes and stared up at the sky.

"You say that every time. Try a new line for once," Tamsin replied.

"God, your emerald eyes are stunningly piercing under the moonlight," Scarlett gushed. Tamsin side-eyed her.

"An improvement... Still not great, but it's still progress..." Tamsin told her, still not really feeling it. She slid herself a few centimeters away from Scarlett, but Scarlett compensated by sliding over not long after. Tamsin sighed.

"Well, I wish I was as lucky as whoever has your heart this time," Scarlett sighed, staring at the ground. She slid back over, away from Tamsin.

"She's not lucky..." Tamsin told her sadly. She looked over at Scarlett. "Not now."

Scarlett nodded slowly before sliding off the tailgate and dropping to her feet on the ground underneath. She took a step and stood in front of Tamsin. The two looked at each other quietly.

Scarlett kissed Tamsin on the lips quickly and said, "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Tamsin told her halfheartedly. She too dropped down and then closed the tailgate before walking over to her truck's door and opening it.

"Have a good night okay, Tamsin?" Scarlett called over her shoulder as she began walking away.

"I'll try," Tamsin called after her, relieved to be out of her presence. "You have a good one too."

"I will," Scarlett replied. And with that, their night ended and Tamsin drove to Lauren's apartment.

She'd avoided going there for a few nights after the excrutiating results of Lauren's test. She didn't like the unsettling atmosphere she knew it hosted. The apartment emitted a sense of death and aloneness that shook Tamsin to the core. Lauren's terrified screams echoed off the walls in the middle of the night. The fear Lauren had radiated through the walls and passed over Tamsin as thought it were taunting her and telling her she couldn't have helped even if she tried. Those were Tamsin's darkest hours, knowing she couldn't turn back time and stop it from happening. But now she was going back. Now she was going to face it all head on. She wasn't going to hide from those hideous, raw emotions that dwelled in Lauren's apartment. She needed closure and she planned to get it even if it meant torturing herself.

Tamsin let herself in like she used to, silent and cautious. She used to do this because Lauren would be concentrating and she wanted silence, but Tamsin would startle her if she'd enter too roughly so she'd taken to entering silently and cautiously and that hadn't seemed to bother Lauren. She watched her feet as she walked in and closed the door silently behind her, just like she used to. She looked up and did a sweep over of the room like she used to and her eyes settled on a weary-looking Lauren sitting on the couch. She swallowed hard.

"Been waiting long?" Tamsin asked her quietly. She averted her eyes. She didn't know why she couldn't look at Lauren, but she refused to.

"No, no..." Lauren replied in a hoarse voice. This had become her normal voice ever since the test. She'd cry a lot or scream or even both and lose her voice. Sometimes it was completely gone. She'd even wake up screaming. That was pure torture for Tamsin and she hated it. Not because it disturbed her sleep, but because it disturbed her on the inside. "I was just thinking."

"Oh," Tamsin replied. "About what?"

"My choice," Lauren told her absently. "I should've just went for the trial. It would've been less painful."

"How so?" Tamsin asked. "Lauren, put it into perspective. They probably would've done to you what you had to do to that guy."

"And I'd be dead," Lauren continued in her hollow tone. "I wouldn't be reliving my deed over and over and over and over..."

Lauren continued repeating herself. Tamsin wrapped her arms around Lauren in order to calm her down. Lauren stopped talking and nestled into Tamsin and sighed.

"I'm sorry I haven't been home lately..." Tamsin told her. "These past few days have been a lot to take in."

"What about for _me_?" Lauren snapped suddenly, pushing Tamsin's arms off of her and sitting up.

"Well, yes, for you too. But I hate seeing you like this," Tamsin explained. "I wasn't saying it's as hard for me as it for you. I was in no way saying that, I promise."

Lauren relaxed and put Tamsin's arms back around her as Tamsin drew in a deep breath. She looked around at the nearby area, observing the walls and ceiling. She could feel Lauren shaking.

"Have you eaten recently?" Tamsin asked her, breaking the silence. Lauren slowly shook her head. "You need to eat. Stay here."

Tamsin decided to try and make breakfast despite the time of night. She figured breakfast was easy enough to cook for her to not screw up. She looked for food in the fridge, but didn't see anything.

"Lauren... Where's all your food?" she asked, turning to look at Lauren.

"I threw it out. I threw it all away," Lauren told her, staring at her. "It was all suddenly... unappetizing."

"What? Why?"

"I kept seeing bits of him in it," Lauren told her, wide-eyed. She grimaced at the thought.

"But you kept the bread," Tamsin observed. She opened the package.

"Yes. I like toast," Lauren responded.

"You like toast!" Tamsin exclaimed with a glimmer of hope. "Okay! I'll make you some toast then."

"Toast," Lauren repeated. Tamsin put two slices into a toaster and lowered them. She sat on the couch with Lauren while they waited for the toast to pop up. The toast popped up and Lauren flinched. Tamsin went to get it and brought back two crispy, black pieces of toast. She placed them in front of Lauren, who stared at them and then back up at her. Lauren picked one up, took a bite, and chewed it carefully as she put it back down. Tamsin heard her loud crunching and felt bad for her because she had to eat it.

"You don't have to eat that," Tamsin told her. Lauren spit out the toast.

"Sorry," she apologized, seemingly almost normal.

"It's fine. That was nasty," Tamsin chuckled. "I'm the one that should be sorry."

"Will you sleep with me?" Lauren asked in the most innocent way possible. She looked to Tamsin with her brown eyes pleading. Tamsin looked back with sympathy.

"Sure," Tamsin told her gently.

"Thank you," Lauren replied, rising to her feet. She made her way up the stairs. Tamsin hesitantly followed her, really not wanting her to scream in her sleep. By the time she reached the bedroom, Lauren was already in bed, ready to sleep.

"Should I sleep on one side, or...?" Tamsin asked, noting that Lauren was smack in the middle. She sat down on the edge of the bed and craned her neck to look at Lauren.

"Just cuddle with me," Lauren told her. "Please."

"Sure," Tamsin replied. She climbed in and settled next to Lauren, putting her arm behind her head. "That okay?"

"Yes."

Tamsin stretched and clicked off the light and the room was pitch black. She couldn't stare at the ceiling or the walls. There was only blackness. She listened to Lauren's breathing and heard it begin to slow down, meaning she was falling asleep. Tamsin relaxed a little and without even realizing it, she too fell asleep.

By morning, the sun shone in Tamsin's eyes and she woke up squinting into the light. She immediately noticed a lack of Lauren.

"Lauren?" she called out. She searched the entire bedroom and bathroom, but Lauren was nowhere to be found. She rushed downstairs. "Lauren?"

As she finished descending the last step, she found Lauren sitting on a kitchen stool and staring off into space. Tamsin touched her shoulder and she jumped.

"Sorry," Tamsin apologized and smiled. "I didn't know where you went."

"Work."

"You went to work?" Tamsin asked, confused.

"No, I have work," Lauren sighed.

"Just... call in sick or something."

"No way. I can't let them know they won," Lauren replied.

"They didn't win," Tamsin pointed out. "Remember our plan? I told you to—"

"I know, you told me to manipulate the man's DNA results to make him appear to be my brother. I _know_. But I still _killed_ a man and that means they've won, yet again."

"Lauren—"

"They won!" she exclaimed frustratedly. "They _won_! There's no denying it. They made me _kill_ that man. He was probably innocent! All for what? I could've just followed their plan and just accepted a trial! Or better yet, I could've just told the truth and said he wasn't my brother and then they could just—"

"Kill you for that? You think I'd ever let that happen? I'd rather—" Tamsin cut herself off. She clenched her jaw shut and looked away.

"Die!" Lauren finished for her, her volume rising. "Say it, Tamsin! You'd rather _die_! But oh wait, that's already happening! You're dying, Tamsin. You're _dying_. Do you understand what I'm saying to you? You're _dying_. And guess what, Tamsin? Guess what the most messed part of you dying is? I'm going to have to watch you deteriorate— no, I am watching you deteriorate right now. I'm going to have to see you take your last breath. How is that fair?"

"Do you want me to just go?" Tamsin yelled back. "Is that it? Are you telling me to leave, to- to just get out?"

Lauren went silent and stared at Tamsin.

"Lauren, you need me. You're not well. Last night, you didn't even scream once, why is that? Why didn't you scream, Lauren? Because you need me!" Tamsin told her, still shouting. She took a breath and quieted herself. "But most of all... I think I need you."

"You think?" Lauren asked.

"No. I _know_ I need you, okay? Please don't push me away. Please don't shut me out. If you do that... If you do that, I'll have to leave because I couldn't stay here living like this with you so close yet so far away from me."

"I have to go," Lauren told her coldly. "I have bacteria to culture and cells to monitor."

"Lauren, please—"

"Goodbye, Tamsin," Lauren stated. She grabbed her things and made her way to the door.

"Lauren, I don't even know why you're mad at me," Tamsin told her, following her to the door.

"You made me _lie_ to everyone. You made me play their stupid little game. You made me kill that man so I could live. That doesn't seem at all selfish to you?" Lauren asked. She hesitated and added quietly, "I'll see you when I get home."

The state sounded more like a question awaiting for Tamsin's confirmation. Lauren waited with the door open, ready to leave.

"Yeah," Tamsin breathed. She closed the door behind Lauren after she'd left and stood with her back to the door. She stared at nothing for a few moments before deciding to appear before the Morrigan.

•••

"Tamsin! Didn't think I'd see you around here since the last stunt you pulled," the Morrigan remarked with a frigidity in her tone as she turned around in her chair. It was a coolness that no one could ever replicate and it showed through her hard, dark eyes. "What do _you_ want from me?"

"Maybe I just like paying you visits from time to time," Tamsin replied flatly. The Morrigan stood up from her chair and walked over to Tamsin and purposely invaded her personal space.

"Cut the shit," the Morrigan snapped. She sweetening up her tone before speaking the next sentence. "Tell me what you want from me."

She smiled a cruel smirk and gazed intensely at Tamsin, waiting impatiently for the Valkyrie to spit it out. She crossed her arms and noticed that Tamsin seemed to be frustrated. She enjoyed the Valkyrie's distress, despite not knowing the cause.

"Your archivist."

"Well, he's not for sale," she replied using a belittling tone. She smiled cruelly again and uncrossed her arms.

"I need to speak with him," Tamsin told her firmly.

"Tell me what you're looking up first, then he's all yours," the Morrigan promised in a sickly-sweet voice.

"I need to read up on a human," Tamsin admitted. She didn't want to confess any more. The Morrigan was an intelligent, conniving bitch and she could use anything she knew against you. And just like the Fae with Lauren, she always won. The Morrigan smiled mysteriously before firing questions at Tamsin.

"Blonde or brunette?"

"Blonde."

"Pet or not?"

"Not."

"Has knowledge of us?"

"Yes."

"Associated with the Fae?"

"Sure..."

"Light or Dark?"

"Light."

"Associated with _Doctor Lewis_?" she asked, hoping to catch Tamsin off guard.

"None of your business," Tamsin replied sharply, ready for her tactic. The Morrigan smirked, knowing she'd been caught.

"Alright then," she said to Tamsin, still smirking. She raised her voice to call out, "Archivist!"

Tamsin and the Morrigan stared at each other as if in a showdown. As much as Tamsin hated to admit it, the Morrigan's cruel eyes burned into hers. She could almost see all the years of depravity leaking through those dark eyes and forced herself to look down for a second.

"I don't know why you need my archivist. If the human is associated with the Light..." the Morrigan commented, waiting for an answer. A bald man in a suit emerged from a back room and stood beside the Morrigan. She looked at him before gesturing to Tamsin.

"I need to see about a human," Tamsin told him. "Alone."

Tamsin took him by the arm and guided him outside of the Morrigan's quarters before explaining everything and having him swear to secrecy.

"I know the man you seek," he replied with a devious smile. He then proceeded to peel his scalp off slowly at a painful speed before handing the entire piece of skin to Tamsin. "Here is everything we have on him. You might want to check the Light's files too... If you could manage to get ahold of them."

He returned inside the Morrigan's quarters without another word.

•••

"Lauren!" Tamsin called through the door, hoping she wouldn't be seen. "Open up! It's me."

"Who's me?" Lauren called back. "Do you have an appointment?"

Tamsin rolled her eyes and kicked in the door after checking to see if the coast was clear. She gently closed the doors behind her and rushed over to the doctor.

"Tamsin?" Lauren asked, surprised. Hr surprise seemed to turn to annoyance as she stated, "You better have a good reason for sneaking into here. You know better— the _Ash_ is in the next room! This better be an emergency."

"Lauren, the man you killed—"

Tamsin saw something flicker off in Lauren as she immediately frowned and turned away, not wanting to hear more. Tamsin sighed and rushed over to face the front of Lauren and began where she left off.

"He wasn't innocent. He really did bomb the Fae. He killed some humans too in a separate crime."

"He had my brother's signature," Lauren recalled. "On the bombs. How?"

"I don't know that yet, but he wasn't innocent," Tamsin repeated, making sure Lauren heard that part.

"But does his guiltiness make it okay that I killed him? No," Lauren insisted. She began cleaning off her countertop.

"You're right, it doesn't... But it makes it slightly less not okay, right?" Tamsin asked hopefully, her eyes searching Lauren's.

"Tamsin, you came over here, snuck into my work, and kicked in my doors just to tell me this?" Lauren asked in an incredulously annoyed manner.

"Well, yeah."

"Get out," Lauren told her softly. She was way too focused on wiping down the countertop.

"But—"

"I said get out," Lauren repeated herself, dropping the rag. "Please."

"Okay," Tamsin whispered, walking over to the doors. "I'm out."

Lauren tried to forget that expression Tamsin wore before she left. It was morose, but much past that, it was unreadable. Maybe panicky? Lauren wasn't sure, but it stuck with her for the remainder of the day and by the time she went home, she was weighted down with guilt.


	10. I Want to be Loved by You

"Tamsin, I'm sorry for treating you so horribly earlier," Lauren apologized as soon as she walked through the door. "You were right, I was in no shape for work."

She turned around to shut the door before looking for Tamsin. Instantaneously, she noticed how quiet and still her apartment was. And as she looked around, Tamsin was nowhere to be seen.

"Tamsin?" she called. She walked into the room more instead of standing by the door and looked around, scanning the room for any sign of Tamsin. She noticed a note on her counter and feared the worst.

_Lauren, take care_

_Hope you still love me even after._

There was something written after 'take care' and before the next sentence started, but Lauren couldn't make out Tamsin's writing. The note looked rushed and incomplete, probably because Tamsin was itching to leave. She probably only left the note out of courtesy was what Lauren thought. Lauren also didn't know whether to ponder the note or start panicking because she didn't know what Tamsin meant and because Tamsin was nowhere to be seen. She did one more sweep over of the room before setting the note down. She let out a big sigh and wondered what to do with herself. She hadn't wanted Tamsin to get out of her life, she just wanted her out of the work lab for fear of her being discovered by the Ash or one of his men. She'd spoken more harshly than intended, but she didn't think Tamsin would just give up on her and leave.

Suddenly Lauren heard thumping upstairs similar to someone running around. She hoped it was Tamsin, but the clumsiness and uneven beat dissuaded her her initial thoughts. She went upstairs without thinking to grab a weapon and walked in cautiously, not sure of what to expect. An awkward-looking girl who looked about seven or eight stared at her, wide-eyed. Before Lauren could even react to the sight of the girl, the wide-eyed girl ran over and kicked Lauren in the shin, stomped on her other foot, and pushed her out of the way as if trying to escape.

"Wait!" Lauren called after her, trying to recover from the minor attack. She limped after her, taking extra caution on the stairs. As Lauren made it over the last step, the little girl was already at the door with her hand on the knob. Lauren huffed, "Are you Tamsin?"

The blonde little girl froze in place and spun around, trembling at the adult stranger's knowledge of her name.

"It's okay, um..." Lauren thought of an explanation to placate the girl. "I'm a doctor and I'm going to take care of you."

"I'm Dark," the girl replied, seeming to ignore Lauren's statement. She looked at Lauren curiously.

"That's okay, I'll still accept you," Lauren assured her. She managed a smile.

"Is this Light territory?" the girl asked.

"Yeah—"

"Then I shouldn't be here," she told her matter-of-factly as she opened the door.

"Wait! We could play a game," Lauren suggested, desperately trying to get the girl to stay. "We could play hide and seek from the Light Fae. What do you say?"

"Sounds risky. I like it," the little girl smirked.

"Good," Lauren replied with a small smile. She limped over to the girl and gently closed the door. "Man, you can kick..."

"I know," the girl responded proudly. "I'm hungry."

"Hm, okay... How about..." Lauren remembered there wasn't anything in the fridge. "Crap..."

"Ew, no! That's gross!" the little girl scrunched her nose up and giggled. She peered up at Lauren with twinkling eyes.

"You're right, that is gross," Lauren chuckled. "Okay, I guess we'll have to go out. I'll go get some food tomorrow, I promise."

•••

"Wake _up_!" the young Tamsin shouted, pouncing on Lauren. She ripped the covers off the doctor and let the air chill her. Lauren grumbled and pulled the sheets back over herself. "You said you'd get food, I'm hungry! Wake _up_!"

"Fine! Fine. I'm up," Lauren mumbled. She sat up and rubbed her eyes before letting them focus on Tamsin. "How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough to make an oopsie..." Tamsin admitted. She looked down in shame.

"You urinated somewhere?"

"No! I—"

"Did you have a bowel movement?" Lauren asked curiously.

"No! ...I don't even know what that is!"

"Poopy," Lauren clarified.

"Ew, no! I'm potty-trained luckily for you," Tamsin told her. "No, I spilled something and when I started cleaning it up, I spilled something else when I was reaching for the paper towels and then they started doing something. They mixed and turned white and they're fizzing..."

"Fizzing?" Lauren asked, feeling panic wash over her. There were many dangerous chemicals in her lab that could do that and the outcome of any of the combinations running through her mind consisted of some sort of explosion and/or hazardous gas. She rushed downstairs, fully awake.

"I'm sorry!" Tamsin called innocently after her. She buried her face in Lauren's pillow, not wanting to be yelled at.

Lauren went into the kitchen and found the mixture fizzling and panicked because that would signify the murderous process being almost complete. Just as she passed by it, though, she caught a whiff of a salty, sour smell.

"Is that..." she wafted the air toward her nose, knowing better than to just stoop down and sniff it straight on. "Vinegar?"

She looked more closely at the mixture as the fizzling ceased and saw that it'd been vinegar and baking soda. She laughed out of relief that out of all the dangerous chemicals Tamsin could've gotten into, she'd only gotten into natural household products. In retrospect, she had been sure she locked up the extremely dangerous chemicals anyway, but just to be sure she double-checked the lock and it was indeed secure.

"Tamsin, you can come down now... It's safe. It was only vinegar and baking soda," Lauren called up the stairs. "They're completely harmless— separate or together."

Tamsin came bounding down the stairs and hopped down the last step and landed in front of Lauren. She looked up at her expectantly, rocking back and forth on her feet.

"Do you ever wanna have kids?" the little Tamsin asked, sincerely curious. "Am I annoying you? Are you sad? Are you ever gonna tell me the truth?"

Just as Lauren opened her mouth to speak, two knocks on the door cut her off. She excused herself and opened the door, hoping Tamsin would have enough sense to hide. The door opened to reveal an Indian woman looking brightly at Lauren.

"Hi, you told me I could stop over for a check up on my arm?" she reminded her. She noticed a little blonde girl standing in the center of the room. "Oh, is now not a good time?"

"It- It's fine," Lauren told her, gesticulating for her to enter. The woman followed Lauren in and sat on the couch. Tamsin hopped onto the couch and sat next to her, oblivious to her discomfort.

"Hi, I'm Tamsin. I'm Dark," Tamsin told her proudly. The woman looked quizzically at Lauren who laughed nervously.

"She's joking. Kids these days. Uh... She's had a traumatic brain injury and she says random things all the time. I'm looking for someone to take her in so she can receive proper care and treatment..." Lauren lied. She looked over at Tamsin who winked. Tamsin watched as Lauren inspected the woman's arm.

"I wouldn't tell on you anyway— no, sadly he wasn't found. But my life is so much better," she admitted sheepishly, answering Lauren's question before it was spoken. It was then Lauren remembered she was a telepath. "I promise I didn't do anything to him though. Honest."

Lauren smiled.

"Well, that's a relief. I was sure you thought I did something to him," the woman said, replying to Lauren's thought.

"Okay, well you're all set. Hopefully I don't have to see you until your next annual check up," Lauren told her quickly, hoping to get in a word.

"Hopefully not!" the woman agreed. "Bye to you too, Doctor."

As soon as the woman left and was out of earshot, Lauren sat next to Tamsin and sighed.

"Tamsin, you can't just introduce yourself like that to everyone," Lauren scolded her. "Anyone who visits me is Light Fae. I guarantee it. So please try to keep your mouth shut about your alignment. Can you do that for me, Tamsin?"

Tamsin nodded quietly.

"As proud as you are of being Dark, anyone who visits me won't like you so much."

"I understand," Tamsin responded, nodding her head again.

"Good. I'm going to go get us some food, okay? You stay here and follow my rules," Lauren told her firmly. Tamsin nodded for a third time. "Alright. See you later!"

"See ya!" Tamsin replied as Lauren left.

•••

A few days had passed and Lauren was able to witness Tamsin go from being seven-ish to a full-out teenager in just a few days. As pesky as Tamsin had been as a smaller child, she got on Lauren's nerves often as a teenager. Sure she'd been a sarcastic and often sassy adult, but it was nothing compared to her smug, rebellious teenage stage.

"I just don't understand why you can't pick up after yourself," Lauren told her.

"I just don't understand why you can't live with a little grunge," Tamsin shot back. "Like, all this neatness and white wall shit doesn't freak you the least bit out?"

"No, and as hard as this may be for you to understand, some people actually like cleanliness," Lauren retorted.

"Only nerdy, controlling _bitches_ like you," Tamsin responded with bite. She saw Lauren's face fell as if she'd been slapped, but was too proud too apologize. Instead she looked away and stormed out of the living room muttering, "I don't know what the hell your problem is, lady, you're not even my mom!"

Lauren sighed and rolled her eyes, knowing this would feel like the longest stage of growth for the Valkyrie before she transitioned into an adult and hopefully the adult she knew and loved from before.

"Tamsin, Tamsin, Tamsin..." Lauren said under her breath as she shook her head. "What am I going to do with you?"

"I can hear you talking about me," Tamsin called from upstairs. "Stop!"

"Yeah, okay," Lauren called back with another eye roll. She lowered her voice so only she could hear. "I'll stop when you stop."

•••

A sharp yelp erupted from upstairs, but Lauren didn't flinch because she was used to hearing them at that point. Tamsin screamed when there was a bug and she screamed when she got news and she screamed when she grew as if she hadn't noticed the difference in view. Lauren shook her head wondering how Tamsin could be surprised so much by the rapid growth because she'd gone through it before and why couldn't she clearly see that everything was 'shorter' than it had been a few seconds ago. She did appreciate how the childish Tamsin had kept her calm and levelheaded despite it all. She made a mental note to thank Tamsin for that. The Valkyrie had been regaining memories, but she still had major gaps in there and Lauren couldn't help her with that even if she tried. She wondered what it was like to relive the memories randomly. It must be odd because Tamsin would stare into space for a while before reverting back to her normal smart-alecky attitude. Lauren wondered what she had going on up there, but she knew better than to ask.

"Hey, Lauren!" Tamsin shouted in a singsong voice as she came running down the stairs.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to run down the stairs?" Lauren asked her, turning to face the now full-grown Valkyrie who was standing only inches away. She knew it'd be odd lecturing her as a child despite her adult appearance.

"I don't know and I don't care," Tamsin smiled hugely. She stood in front of Lauren and would've looked her straight in the eye if it weren't for the height difference. She finished her thought in a taunting voice and the smile still plastered on. "Because I'm taller than you!"

It was true. She had about a good half a foot on the doctor and it meant she was physically full grown. All Lauren had to do was wait for her brain to catch up and since Lauren had never studied a Valkyrie up close, she didn't know how long that'd be. Judging from her growth pattern, Lauren figured it couldn't take too much longer, but with the Fae she could never be too sure.

"Wow, I guess you are," Lauren remarked. "Good for you."

Tamsin nodded proudly before hopping backward one step to give Lauren her personal space back. Tamsin surveyed the lab, wondering what Lauren's newest experiment was, but decided not to ask because she knew Lauren would give her the entire lab report verbally including the exact data amounts and conclusion rather than the simple tests being run and what they proved. Tamsin thought Lauren was the smartest person she'd ever met. She always seemed to have an answer for everything Tamsin wondered about. Tamsin was happy to have such an attentive, intelligent woman as a caretaker. Knocks on the door interrupted Tamsin's thoughts and she hurried over to the door and opened it without thinking.

"Tamsin," Scarlett greeted her with a strange smile. "I heard you were here, I just didn't think it was true."

"I don't know you," Tamsin answered in all honesty, not remembering who the woman was. "I'm—"

Tamsin stopped herself from declaring her alignment as Lauren had told her to and kept silent. She stared awkwardly at the redhead before turning to look at Lauren for help. Lauren took in the sight of the pale, dark-haired woman. She stood up straight and tall and had a magnetic pull to her that Lauren couldn't explain.

"I don't know you either," Lauren remarked, staying on track and focusing on why the woman was at her door. "Would you like to come in?"

"You sure about that?" Scarlett asked in an indecipherable tone. She held an intent stare at Lauren, seeming to look right through Tamsin who was standing in front of her. Her eyes were dark. They appeared to be black from where Lauren stood, but she couldn't be sure. Black eyes like what she was seeing didn't exist as far as she was concerned. The woman looked rigid as though she were suppressing something powerful as she replied, "I don't know if I'm someone you want in your house— I'll stay here, thank you."

She leaned on the outer part of the doorframe looking comfortable and at ease. She never once stepped over the crack in the floor where the outside flooring ended and the apartment's flooring began. She never checked where it was either as if she had the exact area mapped out and burned into her brain. She smiled pleasantly and the smile could've easily been perceived as an amiable smile, but if you looked closely, it was strained and it was as if she was concentrating on smiling above anything else and it also appeared to be challenging for her.

"I came to get my buddy Tamsin," Scarlett told her in a friendly voice. "I don't know why she didn't report to me before expiring, but that's what she's supposed to do each cycle. I'm supposed to take care of her and set her straight until her memories return. You know, make sure she doesn't get into any trouble."

"Well I'd hate to look untrusting, but unless you have proof of your supposed guardianship... I don't think I'm going to let Tamsin go," Lauren stated calmly as she approached the door, hoping to avoid upsetting the strange woman. She avoided looking directly into her eyes because those black orbs freaked her out. "I'm sure the Dark would have some kind of binding contract for something like that if it were actually legitimate."

"Alright, that's fair enough. I can see why you wouldn't want to let her go with a stranger," the woman replied, still keeping her amiable tone. She smiled once more and added, "But do keep in mind that I can get you for abetting and hosting a Dark Fae on Light territory."

"But _you're_ on Light territory..." Tamsin pointed out innocently. Her tone reminded Lauren of a little girl, but her voice was indeed adult like the rest of her. It was odd, but adorable just the same. Tamsin looked sincerely confused about it. Her nose was scrunched up as she was trying to figure out why she wouldn't be allowed there if the redhead was.

"That's a good point, Tamsin," Lauren told her while keeping her stare on Scarlett, but never letting it wander up to those eyes. Scarlett smiled smugly as she knew she'd been caught. "If that's the only reason you've come, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Lauren couldn't put her finger on it, but the woman gave her a deep sense of dread and doom. She didn't know if it was because of her black eyes or if it was the way she appeared to have to constantly remind herself to smile and use even the most normal and neutral of tones when talking, but the woman was clearly struggling with portraying basic social behavior. It wasn't that her behavior wasn't on point— it was— but it seemed scripted.

"Very well," the woman wore yet another smile. "I will leave as you wish, but keep in mind that Tamsin is one of ours."

"And by 'ours' you mean the Dark," Lauren clarified. She finally looked into the woman's eyes and not only were the irises black, but so were the whites of her eyes. Lauren averted her gaze immediately, partly because she didn't want to see those again and partly because she didn't want to appear to be gawking. Her curiosity dared her to look again, but she didn't.

"Of course," the woman responded politely. She gestured to herself. "I am clearly not a Valkyrie."

She emitted a light chuckle, the reason unknown to Lauren. Lauren didn't know if she was trying to lighten up the mood or attempting to appear friendly, but the laugh made her recoil inside. It was not a cackle or a strange laugh, but it had the same essence as her smile and vocal tones.

"I will be going now," the woman told her after stopping her chuckling abruptly. "I can't promise I won't stop by again. I need to check up on her periodically."

"Mm-hm," Lauren responded, just wishing the woman would go already. They didn't stand too close, but it still felt like she was intruding on her personal space.

"And luckily for you, I'm good at keeping a secret," the woman said with a robotic wink. "I won't say a word about this little... _arrangement_."

The woman departed silently and gracefully, as if she were floating away down the hall. Lauren closed the door and let out a sigh of relief before turning to Tamsin.

"Who was that?"

"I don't know. Like I said to her, I don't know her."

"Do you know what she is?"

"Um, isn't that your job?"

"Yes, but I don't know what she is off the top of my head. I'd have to waste a lot of time to research..."

"Well, better hit the books 'cause I don't know what she is either," Tamsin admitted. "Sorry."

"It's alright."

"Whatever she is, she really freaked you out, huh?" Tamsin asked, looking sideways at Lauren.

"Yeah... She did..." Lauren responded absentmindedly. Tamsin could tell she was thinking hard and scanning her brain for any clues of what the woman could've been.

"And she couldn't come in," Tamsin reminded her. Lauren looked at her with a questioning look in her soft eyes. Tamsin looked obliviously back. "What?"

"How do you know that?"

"'Cause she never came in..." Tamsin trailed off. "Is this a trick question?"

"No... But that was her choice to not come in," Lauren told Tamsin.

"Was it?" Tamsin asked, sincerely curious. "Because the only thing you said to her was 'Would you like to come in?' and to me, that's not a formal invitation... It's more like... I don't know, I can't think of the word."

"An implication," Lauren finished for her.

"Yeah. Like, it's implied that she can come in if she wants, but you never explicitly said so... Can Fae get that technical?" Tamsin wondered aloud.

"I'd imagine so," Lauren stated. "But she wouldn't be a vampire or anything like that, right? Not with those eyes..."

"Oh, so you saw those too," Tamsin responded with relief. "I thought I just imagined those pitch-black blinkers. It looked like she had both her headlights out."

"Tamsin, she did have eyes, they were just completely black," Lauren corrected her.

"I know, but still... They looked like soul-sucking black holes of mass destruction," Tamsin raved in awe.

"Did you notice anything else strange?" Lauren asked her, wondering if her bad gut feelings were just her being afraid of a Dark Fae.

"I don't know, why?" Tamsin asked still as naïve as a child.

"Never mind," Lauren replied. "Just wondering. For my research."

"Well, her eyes never went with her smile or tone of voice," Tamsin recalled. "Like she'd smile and act nice, but her eyes remained dull."

"Emotionless," Lauren concurred.

"Blank," Tamsin added. "But that's okay! We can just like, avoid her or something, right Lauren? I bet you're really good at hiding..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lauren asked defensively, wondering if Tamsin had found anything on her that'd be incriminating.

"Nothing... Was it supposed to mean anything?" Tamsin asked. "I only said that because you're super smart."

"Oh. Okay," Lauren relaxed. "Anyway, I'm not too worried about that woman if she can't come in."

"I am. She could get me anywhere else. For all I know, she's waiting outside until I come out," Tamsin worried aloud.

"But I know you and I know you'll protect yourself."

"But what about you?"

"And me too, if it comes to that," Lauren smiled as she moved closer to Tamsin. Tamsin felt extremely awkward with the way Lauren was gushing over her. It felt like Lauren was desperate and coming on too strong. Lauren leaned in for a kiss, but Tamsin leaned backwards a bit before backing away all together. Lauren's face fell, but she tried to mask her feelings being hurt and forced a smile.

"Uh... Ha... Sorry..." Tamsin murmured, embarrassed at the awkwardness of the situation. She took a quick look at the floor before looking back up at Lauren.

"It's okay," Lauren told her, nodding her head. She guessed that Tamsin hadn't regained her memories of their feelings for one and other and that was okay because Lauren planned to wait. "I don't want to rush anything."

"Right..." Tamsin muttered. "Um, I'm gonna go and take a shower..."

Desperate to get out of the situation she dashed upstairs, ignoring Lauren's no running on the stairs policy and quickly got into the shower. Lauren sighed and ran her fingers over the top of the couch. She did appreciate that Tamsin would still cuddle with her in bed, but it was more of a mother-daughter cuddle rather than a girlfriend cuddle. She decided to start dinner while Tamsin showered. Lauren made sure to incorporate most of the different food groups in her dinner she cut up strawberries, made rice, baked chicken, and boiled broccoli. She figured she could skip the dairy just for this once— she wasn't in the mood for milk or yogurt and was sure Tamsin wouldn't be in the mood for that— but then she ended up putting some cheese out anyway.

Tamsin came down with her hair dripping and wearing Lauren's bathrobe like she'd become accustomed to after her showers. Lauren's dinner was just finishing cooking as she went and sat on one of the stools.

"Heya," Tamsin smiled a bright smile as she looked at Lauren. "What's cookin', Doc?"

Tamsin laughed at her little joke in reference to Bugs Bunny. Lauren couldn't help but smile because when Tamsin was happy, truly happy, it was highly contagious. Her smile, her laugh, her overall jovial glow, everything.

"Nothing much," Lauren replied as she put food on two plates. Tamsin scrunched up her nose at the sight of the broccoli as Lauren handed her the plate.

"Gross," Tamsin commented. Lauren raised an eyebrow as she put her own plate down and went to sit next to Tamsin.

"You need to eat your broccoli," Lauren instructed. Tamsin looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Really?"

"Yes, _really_."

"But it's so gross..."

"Really? That's strange... You used to like it in your past life," Lauren told her as she used a fork to put one in her own mouth.

"I did?"

"Sure, you did," Lauren assured her. "In fact, you always ate it _first_."

Tamsin swallowed hard before putting one in her mouth and chewing. She found that she'd been right and that she didn't like broccoli. She forced it down.

"You liar," she giggled.

"Guilty as charged," Lauren chuckled. "But you can't blame me for trying..."

"No, you're right. I can't," Tamsin told her with a smile as she looked at her. Lauren could feel a mesmerizing magnetic pull from the Valkyrie's warm green eyes as she looked back into them. Their gaze lingered before they both turned back to eating. "So... Do you think that woman is a threat?"

"I don't know, honestly. She definitely raises a red flag with me," Lauren told her as she ate more of her dinner. Tamsin's eyes seemed to light up in recognition of something. "Tamsin— what is it?"

"Red flag..." Tamsin repeated quietly. "Scarlett."

"Well, if that's the shade of red you'd prefer on your red flag... I didn't know we were getting down to specifics..." Lauren replied, completely confused. "Personally I'd have mine a nice crimson color..."

"No... That's her name— what're you even talking about, Lauren?" Tamsin asked, distracted by Lauren's red shade tangent. She ate more of her dinner too, but skipped over the broccoli. This did not go unnoticed by Lauren, but since Tamsin had at least eaten a little she decided to leave it alone.

"Oh, nothing. Her name is Scarlett, is that right?"

"Yeah, I think so... I know her from way back. Like way, way back."

"Oh? Do you remember how? Is she really your guardian?"

"I don't remember."

"That's okay," Lauren assured her.

"No, it's not..." Tamsin sighed frustratedly. "I can't stand not remembering."

"It's okay," Lauren repeated. "Really. Besides. It's not like you'll forget for forever. You'll get it all back. I promise."

"Okay," Tamsin nodded in understanding. She got up and said, "I gotta get dressed. As warm as this bathrobe is, I'm cold."

Lauren nodded and watched her leave. She'd noticed Tamsin eat, but she also had picked at her food. Lauren decided that Tamsin was probably done eating and cleared her plate along with Tamsin's. She wasn't really in the mood for eating either. She made her way upstairs and laid on the bed on top of the covers, just staring at the ceiling. She heard Tamsin in the bathroom, probably getting dressed in there, and she closed her eyes and took a deep breath and let it out. Tamsin strolled out of the bathroom and caught sight of Lauren and jumped. Lauren wondered what Tamsin was freaking out about and so she opened her eyes to see Tamsin in her bra and underwear.

"Lauren! What're you doing in here!?" Tamsin yelled, throwing her clean clothes onto Lauren's chest. "_Ugh_!"

Lauren chuckled and pulled Tamsin's clothes off herself as she stood up and handed them back.

"Excuse me, but I thought you were dressed already," Lauren explained through her chuckles. She couldn't help but laugh. The entire situation was funny to her.

"Well, clearly I'm _not_," Tamsin huffed.

"Oh, it's _very_ clear that you're _not_," Lauren replied in a coquettish tone. She smirked at Tamsin before leaving to stand outside the door to give her privacy.

"_Gods_!" she heard Tamsin say. She smiled and bit her lip before walking back in after she was sure Tamsin was done.

"Tamsin, I'm sorry about that..." Lauren apologized, but her smile said otherwise. Tamsin rolled her eyes, but smiled too. "You look great, though..."

"Thanks..."

Tamsin stared at the floor before jumping onto the bed and falling back onto her back and letting the bed conform to her. She let out a content sigh and Lauren joined her. Lauren snuggled into Tamsin and relaxed. She liked it like this. It was one of her favorite parts of their days.

"Hey, Tamsin?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you," Lauren told her as she kissed her on the cheek. Tamsin smiled.

"Goodnight," she said.

•••

"Tamsin, I just want to know why you don't love me anymore," Lauren stated quietly after months of Tamsin not behaving like she used to. She sounded like she was giving up. She didn't even try to look at the Valkyrie. Lauren would always make advances whether it be flirting or trying to kiss her, but Tamsin would dodge or not flirt back. She'd say goodnight, but she'd never say I love you back. And Lauren was under the impression that she'd done something wrong.

"I _do_ love you," Tamsin promised.

"Not like you used to," Lauren remarked. Tamsin never kissed her. The most affection she'd show was a hug and her I love you's lacked the passion they'd once held. Lauren didn't understand why. She didn't think she'd done anything to upset her that much and if she had, she was sorry.

"What do you want me to say? I don't understand. Exactly what are you looking for with me?"

"I want you to love me like before," Lauren told her. She looked up at her. "I don't know what I did."

"You didn't do anything, Lauren," Tamsin assured her. This time it was her turn to look at the floor. "You've taken such good care of me and I appreciate that so much. You have no idea. You cared for me and raised me like an ideal mother would. I am so grateful for that. It's something I've never really had."

Realization struck the doctor like a cold, hard brick. Tamsin was viewing her as a maternal figure and not as a girlfriend. Lauren couldn't believe this was happening nor could she believe that she hadn't considered this. She was facing this situation head-on and blindly. She didn't know what to do or how to fix it.

"But Tamsin, I'm not your mother," Lauren explained. "I cared for you like that because I didn't trust anyone else."

"I know you're not my mother," Tamsin replied softly. "But I think of you as one and I can't help it. Lauren... I don't know what to do..."

"I don't either," Lauren admitted. A short silence settled between them. "I just... really miss us."

Tamsin looked at the doctor, wishing she could find the right words to say, but she never found them and they never found her. Without another word, she got off the kitchen stool and walked stiffly to the door. Lauren got up and followed her.

"Where are you going?" Lauren asked as Tamsin opened the door. The Valkyrie froze in place before turning to face the darker blonde.

"Away," she replied.

"For how long?" Lauren asked nervously, hoping Tamsin would get the implication that she'd becoming back.

"I don't know," Tamsin replied. "I really don't know. I just... really need to go."

"Tamsin—"

"I'm sorry," Tamsin whispered, interrupting the doctor. And without saying goodbye or even looking back, she walked out the door and was out of sight. Lauren was left standing alone in the open, now empty doorway. She was torn between being worried and trusting her gut. Her but told her that Tamsin would come back because she always came back, but she worried that this would be the one time she didn't.

_She'll come back_, her heart confidently told her. _Just give her some space. She's been going through a lot. She probably just needs some time to sort everything out. But she will be back._

But weeks passed and Lauren felt it everyday. She felt the absence of a spirited Valkyrie and the emptiness in the apartment. Whenever she made a mistake or started talking aloud to herself, Tamsin wasn't there making some sort of comment. When she came home from a long day, Tamsin wasn't there to cheer her up. And at night, Tamsin wasn't there keeping her warm and distracting her from her fearful thoughts. She was truly alone. She knew how long Tamsin had been gone down to the hour. She could calculate it down to the minute if she really wanted. And she was nervous when Tamsin didn't come back when she estimated her to. All the time, it felt like her brain gained more territory.

_I told you she wasn't coming back_, it would sneer.

And her heart could only weakly and inaudibly whisper, _You're wrong. She will_.

One day, when Lauren was at work, Tamsin did come back. And she did know that Lauren would be at work. And she did know that the door would be locked because she knew that that was one of the doctors safety precautions. A human in a Fae world was as vulnerable as a worm in the middle of the road. But Tamsin had come with knowledge and picked the lock. She knew Lauren's schedule wouldn't have changed since she last left, so she knew she wouldn't be home. And as she entered the empty apartment, she found that she was right.

Tamsin felt off. That much was true. She knew she wasn't one hundred percent back to normal, but while she'd been away, she'd regained her memories. However, she found that having her memories again didn't exactly solve everything. That was why she was here. That was why she felt off. As far as she was concerned, she only came back to see if she could fix what she realized was still broken in her. She wouldn't believe the brokenness until she experienced it herself now that she had her memories intact. She just had to see. She would've loved to surprise Lauren with dinner and the thought had crossed her mind, but her better judgement told her she'd just end up leveling the place so she decided not to. She did help herself to some wine and poured another glass in anticipation for Lauren. She watched the clock and waited for the hands to align in such a way that signified Lauren's return. Just as they aligned themselves, Lauren's doorknob began to turn as if on cue.

_That's not really safe_, Tamsin thought as she watched the doorknob turn from her standing position in the kitchen. _If someone was stalking the doctor, they'd know her routine within a few days and then it wouldn't be terribly difficult to wait for the right moment to strike._

Lauren walked in and set her things down without ever even looking up. The Valkyrie waited patiently, knowing she'd have to look up sooner or later.

"Hey, Lauren."

The Valkyrie smiled as she carried the glass intended for Lauren over to her.

"_Tamsin_? Hi!" Lauren exclaimed, hugging her immediately. "What're you doing back?"

"What, you don't want me here?" Tamsin smirked.

"No, I do! It's just... What a surprise," Lauren breathed. Tamsin smiled again and handed the doctor the glass. Lauren noticed Tamsin holding a glass of her own. "You can drink now?"

"I could always drink. You just never let me," the Valkyrie chuckled. "But yes. I can drink without risking an altered mental status."

"Well, I was more worried about your growth," Lauren smiled as she took a small sip.

"Well, I'm grown," Tamsin replied. "And it's great."

"I am in _full_ agreement with you on this one," Lauren nodded as her eyes swept over the Valkyrie from head to toe. She sipped her wine, having run out of things to say. Tamsin didn't really have anything to say either.

"So how was your day?" Tamsin asked suddenly. She looked at Lauren expectantly.

"It's good now," Lauren responded promptly. Then she added, "but it wasn't all that bad either."

"Good."

"Yeah..."

The two stood in a comfortable silence before Lauren set her glass down on the table and asked, "May I kiss you?"

This was it. This was what Tamsin had been waiting for and this would be the moment of truth. She was almost scared to see the reaction, but she knew she'd have to face it sooner or later. She set her own glass down too and nodded silently, stepping closer to Lauren.

Lauren leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips and realized just how much she had missed Tamsin and just how much she loved her. And to her relief, Tamsin allowed her to continue kissing her without pulling away.

Tamsin on the other hand, was feeling scared for she felt exactly what she thought she would.

Nothing.


	11. It's Not How Long it Takes—

. . .

"Hello, Tamsin," the pale woman greeted her emotionlessly. It's not that she felt apathetic toward Tamsin because that wasn't the case at all. She just couldn't help she had no emotion or tone of voice. It was her nature. Anything she ever said was all in the same tone and every situation she'd endured, she'd endured them with the same countenance.

"Hi," Tamsin replied, acknowledging the woman. She studied the raven-haired woman and wondered what it'd be like to have no feelings.

"I have something neat to show you," she announced to Tamsin flatly. "I have learned to fight my nature."

"Fight your nature? No way!" Tamsin responded. She didn't believe the woman because she was sure fighting one's own nature was virtually impossible.

"But I have," the woman insisted with a sudden tone that was different from her usual monotone. It was a tone of voice that conveyed certainty perfectly. Tamsin was astonished.

"But how'd you..."

"With a lot of practice," the woman replied. Tamsin couldn't help but notice that the woman's voice sounded slightly forced and insincere, almost sarcastic, but it didn't affect her words or take away from what she was trying to say. She could pass undoubtedly, but she'd sound slightly different.

"That's pretty amazing," Tamsin admitted. "I didn't think you were serious."

"Of course I was serious!" the woman exclaimed. That was when Tamsin noticed a glaring error in the woman's social mannerisms. Her face didn't follow her voice. It remained stoic and robotic, her eyes never wandering off whom she was speaking to.

"You're missing one thing though, Scarlett," Tamsin told her. She motioned in front of her own face. "Have a little expression."

"I can't believe I forgot!" Scarlett cried. Her sarcastic sounding tone bothered Tamsin a little, but she didn't tell her that. "Let me try, okay? Give me a sec."

The woman pulled a smile, or what looked like an attempted smile, but it ended up resembling an animal baring its teeth and even then her eyes didn't match the rest of her face. If anything, she looked like she was trying to show off her teeth.

"Um... Not quite," Tamsin answered honestly. She put a hand on the woman's shoulder. "But it's okay. I'm sure you'll get it. Just... practice at home in front of a mirror and get good before you try it in public, okay?"

Scarlett nodded.

"Great," Tamsin suddenly felt strange and knew what she had to do. She stood up and said, "I better be going. I got a job to do. This war they call World War II is turning out to be a bloody one."

"I understand," Scarlett replied, reverting back to her usual toneless voice. "See you around."

. . .

"Tamsin, I'm trying to answer your question, but it doesn't look like you're listening to me," Lauren called to her, even though she was sitting right next to her. She waited for a response, but Tamsin wore a blank expression. "Tamsin?"

Tamsin shook herself back to the present and looked at Lauren quizzically. She realized she'd just re-lived a memory and now knew why Scarlett had seemed so off. Her entire affect was an illusion.

"I said that the creature it sounds like you're looking for is a Keres. You said you'd never seen or heard of one, am I correct?"

Tamsin nodded.

"I'm surprised. I'd think their line of work is right alongside yours..." Lauren paused. "You collect the souls of fallen soldiers. They take the blood of the wounded. They're right on the battlefields with your kind. I don't know how you feel about that, but that's how they feed. I'm assuming they go after the wounded and dying because the wounded and dying can't put up much of a fight now can they? A bit cruel if you ask me... Why did you say you wanted to look into them again?"

"I didn't..."

"Oh. Right."

"By the way, did you ever look into what the hell—"

"Scarlett is?" Lauren finished. "I did. My curiosity got the better of me and I spent the entire next work day digging around just trying to find anything that'd match her. I believe she is a BEK. That stands for Black-Eyed Kid and it also calls to attention what an anomaly she is. She is an adult while most are actually children, hence the name BEK. There isn't much about BEKs, unfortunately. Basically, they lack emotion and various speech tones which limits them to only one. It isn't that they are completely incapable of changing speech tone, it's just that for some reason they cannot tap into that skill. That leads me into my next comment about how advanced she is. After reading about the normalcies of her kind, I am in awe and frankly flabbergasted that she is so socially-skilled. She has typical facial expressions down and her voice tones are impressively varied and appropriate. Tamsin, do you know if she was always like that or if she was trained?"

"I-I think she taught herself," Tamsin answered, surprised to have been given a chance to speak.

"Even more impressive!" Lauren exclaimed. "The fact that she wanted to blend in with others, especially enough to set herself up for almost guaranteed failure. Anyway, the impending sense of doom I had during her visit, well, that's a skill of hers. No one knows why, but that is a... side effect I guess you could call it from being near one of her kind. And the whole not coming in unless invited thing is also a BEK thing. It's strange that she didn't accept my interrogatively-stated invitation to come in because that's really all her kind ever ask for— to come in, but I guess I should be grateful for that."

"What happens if they come in?" Tamsin asked.

"No one knows. But they do get terrifyingly aggressive and violent when their target does not comply with their wishes to enter into the house. But that is after they try every method they know of in order to convince their target into letting them in. They'll make up sob stories or excuses such as needing access to a phone or bathroom— they even have a low level of mind-control, but it's so weak even a mere human could fight it."

"Oh."

"Am I boring you?" Lauren asked with a small smile.

"What? No! No. You're feeding me a lot of information. This is helpful," Tamsin assured her. She tried to process everything about Scarlett she'd just heard.

. . .

"Tamsin!" Scarlett exclaimed, sounding less sarcastic and more sincere than she had previously. Tamsin could already notice a huge improvement as the woman also threw in a small but stiff smile. It was definitely a smile and did not resemble baring teeth whatsoever anymore. "How am I doing?"

"Wonderful," Tamsin told her honestly.

"I was told that I could never be normal," Scarlett confessed quietly. Her tone was flat, but it still had a tinge of sadness. Tamsin could almost believe it. "And that I'd never feel anything in here."

Scarlett pointed to where her heart would be seen if her chest had been cut open and rubbed it with her finger gingerly as if the spot were sore. She lowered her hand and her head. Tamsin lowered her head too, but in attempt to make eye contact.

"Hey, your voice and face are nearly perfect now. No need to be sad."

"But I proved them wrong," Scarlett declared, suddenly looking back up. "Because I can feel things. I can feel things, Tamsin. I really can. Don't you believe me?"

"Sure," Tamsin relied hesitantly.

"No, you don't," Scarlett accused her, sensing her doubt. "Spit it out. Tell me what you're really thinking."

"Fine. I'm thinking that you don't actually know how to feel, you just know how to fake it," Tamsin admitted in a sharp, quick pace. She half expected Scarlett's face to fall, but it didn't. It kept an unyielding grave expression. Scarlett did not once take her black eyes off Tamsin, not even to blink. The worst part was that Tamsin couldn't even use her face to tell what she was thinking.

. . .

"Tamsin!" Lauren called loudly. Tamsin blinked a few times, returning back to the present.

"Hm? Yeah. I'm sorry," Tamsin apologized as she took in her surroundings. She was still sitting in Lauren's archives, but she didn't know what she'd missed.

"It's okay. Anyway, I'd jumped back to our conversation about Keres. The souls of the soldiers they kill are often brought to the underworld," Lauren told her. "Meanwhile the souls you claim go to Valhalla if I'm not mistaken. It seems they're quite the competition."

"I'm competing with them?" Tamsin asked robotically. It didn't compute. Why hadn't she ever seen or heard of them ever before? And why did Scarlett feel that it was worth mentioning to her?

"Not exactly... It's a fine line. You take what is dead and has been dead and they just... make more dead."

"But their dead go somewhere else."

"Yeah... Fae politics are extremely confusing and there are fine lines and finer lines and dotted lines and blurred variations of said lines and all that fun stuff."

"I don't really know what to think of them."

"Well, I wasn't suggesting that you have to hate them," Lauren told her. "In fact, their line of work and yours are almost parallel. You're sure you've never encountered one?"

"Yeah," Tamsin answered sincerely. "I really haven't."

"You'd think you'd take one after a Keres visited..." Lauren thought aloud. "Hm."

"Okay, well thank you for clearing that up," Tamsin thanked the doctor and stood up.

. . .

"I've simply mastered the art of mimicry," Scarlett murmured, looking dejected. She looked at Tamsin. "I don't have feelings. I have mimicry."

Tamsin felt guilty about telling her that, but once it'd been said, there was no taking it back. She scuffed a foot on the ground before answering. "Yeah... I'm sorry—"

"No, no. It's my fault. I fooled myself and me being the idiot I am, I believed my own lie," Scarlett spewed her thoughts aloud in her uniformly toned voice, not even bothering to try to change it anymore. "It's funny because I should've been able to figure it out."

"Why's that?"

"Because I had to look at others to know what I was supposed to feel. I had to look around at a funeral to figure out that I was supposed to be sad. I was had to look around at New Year's to figure out I was supposed to be excited and hopeful. And yet, even though I could look and act like everyone else, I didn't understand what all the jumping and smiling and laughing were for. I just did it because everyone else did. Isn't that pathetic, Tamsin— aren't I?"

Tamsin didn't know how to reply.

. . .

Lauren shook Tamsin's shoulder slightly, trying to get the frozen Valkyrie's attention. She stood paralyzed, unblinking, and unresponsive to Lauren's voice and touch.

"Tamsin, you're really starting to scare me," Lauren told her in a soft voice. She gently shook Tamsin's shoulder once more. Tamsin's eyes fluttered a few times before she went back to normal.

"Huh. Sorry, Lauren," Tamsin apologized again.

"That's okay," came Lauren's standard reply. She smiled, happy to have Tamsin back from wherever she'd gone.

"Um, I think I was going somewhere?" Tamsin wondered aloud. She barely remembered standing up.

"I don't know, you didn't say anything to me. You did murmur Scarlett a few times which, I'll admit, made me a tiny bit jealous..."

"Oh right! Scarlett," Tamsin nodded, paying no attention to Lauren's mock jealousy. "I have to go see her about something. I'll be back soon though. I promise."

"Bye..." Lauren said softly as Tamsin rushed out.

•••

"A Keres, huh?" Scarlett mumbled. Tamsin waited for the woman to say more. "Well, Tamsin. I want you to meet someone."

Tamsin squinted at Scarlett, annoyed that she'd organized a little meet-and-greet without warning her first. She hated meeting new people because it involved at least trying to look like she cared and trying to make a good first impression. Before she could say anything in reply, a blonde woman with intense blue eyes approached Tamsin. There was something familiar about the woman that Tamsin couldn't place. The woman stood close to six feet tall, about Tamsin's height and looked like she'd been through a lot, but could handle herself. She shifted her weight onto one foot and crossed her arms, but still managed to look somewhat approachable.

"Tamsin, this is Thana," Scarlett introduced the blonde. She stepped back to be out of their way in case either of them wanted to shake a hand, but neither of them seemed to want to. "Thana, Tamsin."

"It's a pleasure," Thana stated formally. She looked Tamsin down from head to toe as if sizing her up.

"Pleasure's all mine," Tamsin replied, realizing her voice carried the same tone Thana's had. She suddenly felt a sparking bond from Thana, the same type of feeling she felt whenever she was near another Valkyrie. For some reason, she could always tell when someone was one of her kind. She copied Thana in that she looked her up and down, trying to figure out if she'd ever seen her in Valhalla or anywhere else Valkyries frequented. She couldn't remember.

"I just thought you two should get to know each other so you'd get to know more about yourselves," Scarlett explained mysteriously.

"I don't really have the time," Tamsin admitted. She took one look at Thana and quickly added, "No offense."

"None taken," Thana replied, still eyeing the Valkyrie. "I was about to say the same thing. I have some... work that needs to be done."

"Well, thanks for gracing me with her presence," Tamsin sarcastically remarked as she looked at Scarlett. "And I guess I'll see you around."

She nodded at Thana before turning away and walking out. Scarlett and Thana exchanged a look.

"Do you think she knows?" Scarlett wondered aloud.

"Did you see her face?" Thana answered with a question and a smirk. "I'm positive she does."

"So why'd you insist on meeting her anyway? You didn't appear to be interested," Scarlett curiously commented.

"That little exchange told me everything I needed," Thana told her confidently. "Trust me, I didn't need much."

"You're not going to hurt her, are you?" Scarlett asked.

"Why? Do you care?"

"Well, yes."

"Then no. I won't hurt her," Thana promised, turning to walk away. And she left Scarlett behind she softly added, "At least, not yet."

•••

"Strange seeing you here," Thana remarked as she approached Tamsin at the bar. She leaned against the surface and looked at her.

"Not really," Tamsin replied, blatantly conveying her disinterest. She pretended to be looking for someone else. Thana looked down as her patience was thinning. She put her tongue in her cheek and withdrew it so she could speak again."Lots of Fae come here."

"You really don't like me, do you?" she accused her. She looked at her again, waiting for eye contact.

"You're right. I don't. Excuse me," Tamsin flatly apologized.

"Why is that?"

Tamsin didn't even know why, but she wasn't going to admit that to a woman she'd only met a few days ago.

"Is it because I'm just like you?" the blue-eyed woman pressed. Tamsin looked at her, almost glaring. "Hm?"

Tamsin hadn't considered that before, but now that it was put out there, she could see that Thana's statement was true; besides the physical characteristics that were fairly obvious, basic personality traits was there too. The blondes were both sarcastic and hated socializing and both expended no effort in hiding it. And from what Tamsin could tell, Thana was definitely up to something because she was using a tactic Tamsin used all the time.

"Is it that obvious that I don't like you?" Tamsin feigned surprise. "What do you want?"

"I'd like to get to know you a little. Maybe work alongside you... What is it that you do anyway?"

"I'm a detective," Tamsin responded, dodging the true meaning of the question. "What do you do?"

"I work in an ER," Thana replied, copying Tamsin's dodge technique.

"Interesting."

"It is."

They sat in a tense, uncomfortable silence before Thana spoke. "So how is Valhalla nowadays?"

Tamsin stared at her, wondering if she really just asked that question. "Are you serious?"

"Dead."

"What, you haven't been there lately?" Tamsin asked, rolling her green eyes.

"No, actually. I haven't had many... souls to deliver," Thana seemed embarrassed.

"S'there something wrong with you?"

"No. There's something wrong with my territory. It seems someone has been taking every single one of my potential targets. You wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you?"

"No, I haven't delivered anything either, come to think of it."

"And you didn't feel that there was anything wrong with that?"

"I guess I hadn't really thought about it," Tamsin replied.

"Well what have you been thinking about? What else is there to think about? Tamsin?"

"I don't know!" Tamsin snapped. She exhaled sharply.

"Well, now that you know, wouldn't you like to hunt the glutton down?"

"Not particularly," Tamsin responded. She kind of did, but she knew Thana was definitely getting at something and she wanted to avoid playing into it if at all possible.

"Really? Someone's taking your targets and you're just going to let that happen?"

"Sure."

"Do you not want to feed?" Tamsin sighed and replied, "No."

"Then why—"

"Fine!" Tamsin sighed exasperatedly. She decided to try to see what Thana was trying to do. "Where do we start?"

"Excellent," Thana smiled a small smile. "Meet you here tomorrow, same time?"

"Fine by me," Tamsin tersely replied.

•••

Thana had met Tamsin outside of the Dak when she was on her way in rather than at the bar. She wore a white t-shirt under a brown leather jacket and black jeans. Tamsin stopped walking along her intended path.

"Okay, so I was thinking we could—"

"No," Tamsin responded, before letting Thana finish. She wasn't in the mood to hear her talk and hoped she'd get the memo.

"But I didn't—"

"No," Tamsin repeated in the same jaded tone. She was sure Thana would get the hint this time.

"What—"

"No," Tamsin stated firmly once more. Thana stopped walking alongside her, sharply slapped her across the face, and glared at her with icy blue eyes. Tamsin smirked, seemingly unaffected by the impact and said, "Nice shot."

Thana let out a growl of protest, not understanding why the Valkyrie wasn't letting her talk or why her slap had not been effective. Tamsin only smirked more at the disbelief on Thana's face.

"What, is that unsettling for you? Not being able to smack fearful obedience into someone?" Tamsin challenged, her green eyes matching Thana's frigidity. She smiled cruelly and added, "And don't ever slap me like that again it you can kiss this lifetime goodbye."

Thana masked her confusion and kept a fearless countenance as she smiled back.

"Quit interrupting me or you'll be trying to kill me without a throat," Thana returned the threat. They had a brief glaring match before looking away and beginning to walk again.

"Screw you," Tamsin spat.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Thana sneered. "But sorry. You're not my type. I don't screw asshats."

"And I don't screw wannabes," Tamsin retorted.

"So what's your plan of action, Warrior?" Thana asked. "How do we even know if this gluttonous thing isn't one of us? It might not be..."

"You don't think that hasn't crossed my mind? And who honestly gives a shit? I can take almost anyone," Tamsin stated confidently. Thana rolled her indifferent eyes.

"_Almost_ anyone," Thana muttered under her breath, crossing her arms. "Besides, it's probably one of those dumbass Aswangs or some other type of lowly scavenger Fae."

"You don't consider yourself a scavenger?" Thana asked.

"Do I eat the body or any part of it?" Tamsin answered.

"Hey, I don't know what you're into," Thana sarcastically replied. Tamsin glared at her from the corner of her eye. "But not even a vulture?"

Tamsin stopped walking abruptly for a second time and took the time to glare at Thana some more, who'd stopped with her.

"A vulture, Thana? A vulture?" Tamsin's voice rose. "We Valkyries are a proud race. We do not pick and feed off the bodies of the dead. We do not eat what had already been dead, nor do we eat what has been killed for us. You of all Fae should know that. Eating of a dead body is strictly prohibited and not desired by our kind regardless. Frankly, it's repulsive."

"And you've never once been curious about the taste of flesh and blood?" Thana inquired. This enraged Tamsin.

"NO! Have _you_?" Tamsin closed her eyes and took a few breaths to calm herself down. "I'm sorry. That was out of line, even for me."

"I was out of line," Thana admitted, knowing she'd only brought the taboo topic up to get on Tamsin's nerves. "I'm terribly sorry for bringing it up."

The two women began to walk again, enveloped in a tense atmosphere.

"Where did you park?" Thana asked, growing annoyed at the distance they had to walk.

"A few blocks away from the Dal. We're almost there now. So. The ER. How is it?" Tamsin asked as her truck came into view.

"That depends. Exactly what are you asking?" Thana asked as they approached the truck.

"What kinds of things do you see? Brain matter?" Tamsin asked as they got into the old truck.

"Sometimes."

"Guts?"

"Occasionally."

"MVA victims?"

"I work in the field..." Thana clarified.

"I don't understand..."

"Military, Tamsin. I figured it was a given... You know, considering what we are..."

"True, true..." Tamsin nodded as she started the engine. "Anyway, where do you want to start checking out?"

"Maybe try the morgue?" Thana suggested. "To the morgue. The happiest place on earth," Tamsin sighed heavily. "Where you can feel death a mile away."

•••

"I assume you're here to identify the body," the brunette woman asked. She was clearly the medical examiner. She wore a strange expression with a subtle hint of confusion— or was it disappointment?

"No, Tamsin answered, glancing at Thana. "We've been missing some souls... Has anyone been stopping by frequently?"

"No?" the woman answered, now obviously confused. She eyed the two of them, suddenly not looking so disappointed but more as if she'd discovered something. "You have a lot of sadness."

Tamsin and Thana exchanged a look, unsure of exactly to whom she was talking.

"And regret..." she continued. She smiled strangely. "It's delicious."

Tamsin rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips as she sighed impatiently and unamused.

"Look, lady, we just want to know who's been stealing our feeds," Thana demanded to know, her own patience thinning.

"No one?" the woman answered, seemingly momentarily confused once more. She had the look of a hungry dog.

"Stay back," Thana ordered. The woman ignored her warning and continued advancing. "I really don't want to hurt you."

Tamsin had already begun pulling her hair back, despite her reluctance to use her power so early into her current life cycle. Thana's eyebrows rose.

"Tamsin, now isn't exactly a good time to fix your hair," Thana told her flatly as she moved her own shoulders in circles, preparing for a transformation. She could already feel her wings poking at the surface, ready to break out and unfurl.

"Shut up," Tamsin murmured as her face morphed into that of a skull. Thana looked at Tamsin in awe as she watched the hunched over brunette recoil immediately in response. For every step forward Tamsin took, the medical examiner took two steps back.

"I-I told you..." the woman cried out in agony. "I haven't seen anyone..."

Before the woman could finish her thought she dropped to the ground like a fly, her body landing on the solid floor with a sickening thud.

"Well, she wasn't very much help," Tamsin muttered, reverting back to her humanoid face. "But her files might be."

"Agreed."

They searched through her files and scattered papers, but nothing turned up. They went through every drawer and locker, but still found nothing.

"I have to get home," Tamsin stated suddenly. "Sorry."

"Don't be," Thana replied. They put everything back as it had been before they'd touched it and made their way out. "Be happy you have someone to go home to."

"I never said I did," Tamsin replied, glancing at Thana.

"I know— you didn't have to," Thana told her. "It's written all over your face."

"Well, it's complicated." Tamsin didn't know why she told her that, but it just sort of came out and hung in the air for a bit.

"Isn't it always?" Thana agreed. She paused. "But you know what's more complicated? Worrying about the end of the day and what you're going to do for the remainder of that day in order to keep yourself busy so you won't have to feel just how lonely you really are."

Tamsin nodded, knowing exactly what Thana was talking about. She'd been in that stage of her life over and over again. She took a deep breath, hoping she wouldn't regret what she was about to say.

"Why don't you stop over for a bit?"

"I really shouldn't—"

"No, I insist. I may not like you very much, but I dislike loneliness in any form much more. Stop over."

"You sure?" Thana asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. But you're going to have to keep it on the DL. Light territory."

"Geez. You are hardcore," Thana remarked flatly.

"Shut up," Tamsin responded.

•••

"Lauren, this is the Valkyrie I met the other day and told you about," Tamsin introduced Thana as they walked in. Lauren tried to hide her amusement and surprise, but her warm smile and her shining eyes betrayed her.

"Oh. Nice to meet you," Lauren greeted her, automatically offering her a hand. Thana looked at her before hesitantly accepting the hand and shaking it.

"So you're the Light Fae doctor," Thana thought aloud. "The human."

"Yes, that's me."

"I didn't know you had an edge," she commented, gesturing to Tamsin.

"I don't," Lauren replied with a fake smile. While her tone sounded neutral, Tamsin could pick up on the underlying bite and knew the doctor had tried to make a dig at her, but pretended not to notice.

"Okay..." Thana sighed, picking up on the now awkward atmosphere.

"I only cooked enough for two," Lauren apologized. "I wasn't expecting anyone else, but I do have a little extra, if you'd like it."

"Sure," Thana replied, accepting the offer. "Thanks."

"Mm-hm," Lauren nodded, getting out silverware and plates. She began setting the counter up and asked, "So you're a Valkyrie. What's your profession?"

"Army hospital— do you want help?" Thana asked. She left no time for a reply and began assisting her immediately after asking.

"Thanks— army hospital!" Lauren exclaimed. Her own memories of working in the field flashed through her mind. "That's interesting."

"It is," Thana agreed. Lauren could tell that Thana had a passion for the job. "But so is being a doctor for the Fae. There must be so much to learn."

"I don't want to offend you or seem like I'm degrading you, but it's actually similar to working on humans sometimes," Lauren responded cautiously.

"That's not degrading," Thana smiled pleasantly and Tamsin shifted uncomfortably at their exchange.

"All I had to learn that was extra was Fae abilities, what various Fae are prone to, some of their history... Things like that," Lauren brightened. "It's kind of like extra credit."

"But they made it mandatory," Tamsin interjected, happy to break their focus off each other. She cleared her throat.

"True," Thana agreed. There was a pause in the conversation.

"Oh right. The food," Lauren stated as she realized she'd gotten distracted. She divvied out the food equally, despite what she'd said earlier and they sat down. "So? What'd you do today?"

She purposely didn't address anyone after seeing Tamsin's face. She took a forkful and chewed thoughtfully as she waited for an answer. She saw Thana eye Tamsin with encouragement, but Tamsin didn't make eye contact with anyone. Thana looked at Lauren, clearly uncomfortable with the silence and Lauren smiled apologetically. Thana nodded knowingly and the silence continued, seeming to last for hours when in reality it'd only been a few minutes before anyone spoke.

"Tamsin and I looked into some Fae biz today," Thana finally spoke with an urging tone. She waited for Tamsin to jump in and when she didn't, she decided to continue. "We were almost eaten or something."

"Eaten?" Lauren looked between the two of them and her eyes settled on Tamsin. She extended her arm across the counter and touched Tamsin's. "Tamsin, were you almost eaten?"

Tamsin looked up only to roll her eyes and say, "Well, when you put it that way it sounds serious."

Lauren waited for her to continue.

"It was probably an Energy Vampire or something," Tamsin muttered, seeming to brush off the notion.

"What did he say?" Lauren asked.

"She," Tamsin corrected. "Nothing much. Just some crap about how much sorrow or regret or whatever she sensed on us... and how 'delicious' it was. What a creep."

"She told you it was delicious?" Lauren asked quizzically. "That's strange. Energy Vampires— assuming she was one— usually feed off good emotions which in turn leave you with negative ones."

"Then why would she say that?" Thana asked.

"On a diet maybe?" Lauren joked. Neither of them caught it. "I don't know."

"Well either way, it wasn't serious. Tamsin completely Valkyrie'd out on her ass and she was on the ground in like, two seconds flat!" Thana reported. Tamsin could hear the awe in her voice at the recollection.

"Well, you Valkyries are powerful," Lauren concurred. "Casting doubt over a whole battlefield should require a good amount of strength."

Thana nodded vigorously and the three women finished eating and put their plates in the sink.

"Well, I guess I should get going," Thana said, feeling that she'd overstayed her welcome and that there wasn't anything left to talk about. As much as Tamsin wanted to verbally affirm this, she bit her tongue and went over to Thana with Lauren behind her.

"It was a pleasure to have you," Lauren smiled and shook her hand. Tamsin watched her and relaxed only when she'd stepped back from the handshake.

"Yeah," Tamsin laconically agreed. She forced a tense smile before reluctantly sticking out her hand for Thana to shake. Thana stiffly accepted it and mirrored the Valkyrie's tense smile.

"I will see you... at work," Thana nodded. She turned and left before the situation got anymore strained. As soon as the door closed behind her and they were sure she was out of earshot, the arguing commenced.

"Lauren, what the hell was that?" Tamsin hissed. "What _was_ that?"

"What?" Lauren asked defensively.

"You. You getting all cozy with the Dark now?" Tamsin accused.

"No," Lauren replied sharply before pausing. "Excuse me for being nice—"

"_Nice_," Tamsin scoffed, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms as she interrupted.

"—to a complete stranger belonging to the Dark, might I remind you, that you decided to surprise me with. Do I even need to recite the very long list of everything that's wrong with that?" Lauren asked. Tamsin rolled her eyes again. "Why would you even bring her here anyway? What- What would even compel you to do such a stupid thing?"

"Stupid? Really? Stupid? Thanks, Lauren. You're right. I'm stupid. There. Happy? I said it. I'm stupid. I am _stupid_. I am _so_ stupid— well sorry we can't all be genius doctor-scientists. For once, I was trying to be nice."

"_Nice_?" Lauren echoed in disbelief.

"What, you don't believe me? News flash: I have feelings, Lauren. I bet you wouldn't expect that out of someone so _incompetent_. Too stupid to feel, right? Well I do have them and they suck, thank you. I. Have. Feelings."

"Not for me," Lauren replied quietly. She regretted the words as soon as they were out. She hadn't even meant to vocalist what she'd been thinking. Tamsin felt the blow. It reached right into her chest and squeezed her heart. She was stunned.

"_That_ was a low blow," she muttered in a low voice, glaring at the doctor. She felt guilty about that all the time and she didn't even know how to fix it.

"I'm sorry, Tamsin. I—" Lauren stopped short as she saw Tamsin wasn't listening. Instead, she turned her back and walked silently out of the apartment.


	12. —It's Who's Taking You

"Was your day really that terrible?" Scarlett asked Tamsin.

"What're _you_ doing here?" Tamsin asked. She'd only walked about half a block before running into her.

"Food," Scarlett answered, jabbing her thumb backwards to point at the building behind her. Tamsin didn't know what the building was for, but it definitely wasn't a store or restaurant.

"Hm," Tamsin acknowledged, raising her eyebrows.

"How'd things with Thana go?" Scarlett asked, reverting to her monotone. Tamsin wondered why she did that. Was is accidental? Was it on purpose? Was it habitual?

"Fine," Tamsin replied.

"What, you two didn't battle it out?" Scarlett asked in a facetious tone.

"No."

"Really? Because that's quite the mark you have on your face. What'd she do, punch you? She's got a wicked right hook, I tell you."

"No. She slapped me," Tamsin admitted sharply as she turned to walk away.

"Huh. Good for her."

Tamsin angrily hustled back over to Scarlett and punched her square in the jaw, annoyed at what she'd said but more because she just wouldn't leave her alone. She always seemed to be everywhere and Tamsin could never catch a break. Pain shot into Tamsin's hand and it felt as if she'd punched a brick wall. Scarlett's head moved with the impact, but she was completely unaffected. She calmly moved her head back to look at Tamsin and smiled.

"Ouch," Scarlett remarked mockingly. She feigned curiosity. "Was that supposed to hurt?"

Tamsin rolled her eyes, angry that the wrong person had been hurt and went to walk away for a second time.

"But then against I guess it did hurt..." Scarlett trailed off. "You more than me."

"Who, me? I'm fine," Tamsin lied, never looking back as she put more distance between them.

"Sure you are," Scarlett called out. "That's why you're going back to the doctor."

Tamsin stopped dead in her tracks. She hadn't even noticed she'd begun walking in the direction from which she came.

"S'right, go home and complain about your broken hand. The doctor'll fix you up," Scarlett scorned. "But shhh! Don't tell anyone. Because if you do, you'll lose your life!"

"That's okay. I'll just come back anyway. And when I do, you're going to be the first one on my 'To Kill' list," Tamsin shot back.

"I wasn't talking about your corporeal life," Scarlett sneered, leaving the harsh implication hanging heavily in the air. She smirked, knowing she'd won the little exchange. Tamsin ignored her and went back to the doctor's apartment, figuring she didn't really have any other place to go. Even with that logic, she was actually worried about Lauren's safety and figured it'd be a good idea to get back to her and make sure she was safe.

"Tamsin, what happened?" Lauren asked, concerned more about the Valkyrie's current appearance rather than the events prior to her leaving. "Are you alright?"

"Sure, sure," Tamsin nodded, avoiding a hug from the doctor and going straight to the freezer for ice. "Just... Punched a little too hard, ya know? Self defense. I'm fine."

"Is it broken?"

"Shouldn't I be asking _you_ that?" Tamsin joked, wincing as she applied the ice pack. "No, I don't think so."

Tamsin went over to her place on the couch and laid down, balancing the ice pack on her hand. Lauren hesitantly followed her, knelt down beside the couch, and looked into Tamsin's tired eyes. She ran her hand through the Valkyrie's blonde locks and smiled. Tamsin didn't fight the doctor and only looked back at her.

"Violence is never the answer," Lauren scolded jokingly. She knew not to say it seriously because one, it was Tamsin she was saying it to and two, the Fae seemed to only solve things that way anyway. Tamsin lazily rolled her eyes and chuckled, returning her gaze to Lauren's adoring brown eyes. Lauren looked down, chuckling softly with her before focusing on Tamsin's face, trying to read the events of her day off it. She sighed and whispered, "I love you, Tamsin."

Tamsin nodded, unsure of what to say. She looked up to the ceiling as if asking for help before using her elbows to prop herself up. She looked at Lauren some more before leaning on one elbow to get closer to her. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but slowly closed it. Her eyes fell on Lauren's lips for a quick moment before they went back up to her eyes. She let out a heavy sigh through her nose before closing her eyes and kissing Lauren ever so softly on the lips. The kiss wasn't long, but it wasn't a peck either and as Tamsin pulled away, Lauren could only look at her with hopeful puppy-dog eyes.

"Goodnight, Lauren," Tamsin whispered, never breaking eye contact. Lauren blinked a few times and looked down, feeling her sense of hope deflating. She forced a smile and nodded.

"Goodnight," she replied, slowly rising to her feet and making her way upstairs. Tamsin scowled and pursed her lips, mad at herself. She rose from the couch, ignoring the fact that the ice pack had slipped from her hand and followed Lauren's fresh path up the stairs.

"Lauren, I—" Tamsin stopped short, realizing Lauren was already half undressed. She froze for a second before averting her eyes, suddenly embarrassed. Lauren didn't bother covering up. Instead she continued undressing and put her silk pajamas on. When Tamsin felt it was safe to look up, she did and said, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Lauren lied. She was a horrible liar and she knew it and Tamsin could see right through her words. Tamsin took a few steps closer.

"I was wondering if I could... sleep up here with you tonight," Tamsin asked softly. Lauren masked her surprise as she began peeling the sheets down on the bed.

"Sure," Lauren nodded. Tamsin clicked the light off before getting into bed with Lauren. Tamsin's eyes moved around, despite not being able to see anything before she settled down right next to Lauren. She was still worried about Lauren's wellbeing and so she intended to not let her out of her sight if she could help it. Lauren slept on her right side, trying not to focus on Tamsin's stirring. The stirring stopped and she felt Tamsin's arm rest over her torso. The Valkyrie gripped her securely and let out a sigh. Lauren wore a small smile before the two of them fell fast asleep.


End file.
